The Trials of Life
by mattnme04
Summary: Troy and Gabriella get an unexpected surprise which forces them to face many trials throughout life. Will they face them alone or together? How will they handle everything that is being thrown their way?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**Chapter 1**

Gabriella was wracking her brain. She and Troy hadn't talked in nearly five weeks. The last time they'd had a decent conversation hadn't went well. He was mad. She'd said some things she wished she hadn't, but it was in the past and she couldn't take them back. But some people had also been telling him things about her past that she hadn't been comfortable yet talking to him about and he began looking at her in a different way, which had led to their argument.

Gabriella had a past which she wasn't proud of. When she turned 21, she had taken full advantage of the freedom to consume alcohol, and usually ended up consuming too much, resulting in many nights stumbling back to her apartment drunk. The pressure from her friends didn't exactly help matters, though. Spending a lot of her time in bars also allowed her the time to meet new people, which also led to her sleeping around a lot. Growing up she'd never imagined herself to be that type of person, but her college days and her poor choice of friends had led her to a time in her life that she now regretted.

Gabriella had begun dating Troy ten months ago. She trusted him with everything she had. However, being ashamed of her past, there was a large portion she hadn't told Troy about. She didn't ever think it would cause a barrier to come between them because it was in the past, but she was always afraid Troy might think less of her. When she met Troy, he brought out a completely different side of her, a side she loved much more than what others saw of her. She acted more mature when she was with him and got rid of her childish ways, which was something that surprised her considering the age difference between the two of them.

Gabriella was 25 years old. Troy was 19. She'd known him for four years. She saw him grow up through his high school years from an awkward young teen to a young adult. She'd been friends with his older sister, who was two years younger than Gabriella. When their relationship started, Gabriella was a little apprehensive about it considering the age difference, but the more she got to know him in that aspect, the less she noticed the age difference. She was in love with him.

Gabriella had gone to college to be a teacher. She had taught for a year before she took a year off to help her family out. Her dad had been having health problems for a few years, and they were progressively getting worse. He was to a point where he needed someone to take him to doctor's appointments and help him out at home while her mom was at work. So after the school year was over, she moved back into her parent's house and helped take care of her dad. But she was in need of some sort of income. Her brother's wife had just had their third child and they were in need of childcare. So she took on the task of taking care of their three kids. It provided her with an income as well as a flexible schedule so she could still take care of her dad.

Troy had been 18 when they'd started dating. He was in his first year of college, attending college locally and living with his parents. He had a job at a local store and worked part time to earn a little money to take care of personal expenses. His dad had a great job as a manager of a company and earned enough money that he told Troy he didn't even need a job if he didn't want one. However, Troy wanted enough freedom to be able to go do things when he wanted to, so he kept his job and worked around his class schedule.

Now Gabriella found herself sitting in her car, alone, wondering what she was going to do. She'd been sick for nearly two weeks now. When she first got sick, all she wanted was Troy to be there for her and make her feel better. But in the few times she'd tried to contact him, he'd ignored her and refused to hear her out. So after a few days of being sick, she finally decided to go see the doctor. What she didn't expect was the doctor to tell her she was pregnant. She hadn't planned on telling her family yet, knowing they'd all be disappointed in her. But her sister-in-law, April, had figured it out pretty quickly, seeing all the signs she'd experienced when she was pregnant. Gabriella thought she could trust her, but April hadn't been pleased when she found out. She told Gabriella's brother, Matthew, who told her parents.

So now, after being disowned by her family, she found herself with only her possessions. Her brother had told her he didn't want her around his kids anymore, so she lost her job. And her parents had been so disappointed in her, they'd kicked her out of the house. She knew she needed to talk to Troy. He deserved to know that he would be a father in about seven months. As she left her parent's house for the last time, she decided the first place she'd go would be Troy's. She would tell him the news before moving on and figuring out what to do from there.

It was mid-morning on a Saturday. Gabriella knew Saturdays were Troy's day off, so he should still be home, and if she knew him well enough, he'd still be in bed. When she got there, his mom answered the door.

"Hi, Lucille. Is Troy home?"

"Yes. He's still in bed, though. Do you want me to let him know you came by?"

Gabriella let out a sigh. "Could I come in, actually? He's not answering my phone calls and I have to talk to him, preferably today. I know he hates people waking him up, but I really need to talk to him right now."

Lucille looked at her for a moment, trying to decide what would be best to do, but then decided it wasn't her place to get in the middle of whatever was going on with Troy and Gabriella. "Sure, sweetie, go on up."

Gabriella thanked her and went up to Troy's room, finding the door unlocked. She let herself in and sat on the edge of Troy's bed, admiring him. She'd missed him so much in the time they'd been apart and had missed just looking at him. He was so handsome. She'd missed his bright blue eyes looking at her as well. She reached over and rubbed his arm, trying to coax him out of the deep sleep he was in. He began to stir and as his eyes fluttered open, he looked over at her.

She saw confusion at first, and then she saw anger flash through his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked. His voice was deep and husky from just waking up and edged with bitterness.

Gabriella looked down at her lap as she fought back the tears that threatened. "I know I don't have any right to be here because I know you don't want to see me. But we need to talk, Troy. Please just listen for a moment. I have to tell you something and then I promise I'll be out of here. But you deserve to know what I'm about to tell you."

"Gabriella, you need to leave. I've heard it all before. Why do you think I haven't been answering your phone calls? There's nothing you can tell me that is going to change my mind. You lied to me! You didn't trust me or our relationship together enough to confide in me about who you truly are."

Gabriella shook her head. "But that's not who I am anymore, Troy. I told you that. That's all in the past. I don't want to be that person anymore."

"I can't trust you anymore, Gabriella. How am I supposed to know who you truly are when you couldn't even tell me about your past? Gabriella, do you realize that your past forms you into the person you are today?"

Gabriella had tears coursing down her face now. "Troy, I don't know what to tell you to make you believe me, but not once did I ever pretend to be someone I'm not."

"I think you should leave. You're ruining my day off, the one day that I'm supposed to get to enjoy. I don't w-"

"Troy, I'm pregnant."

Gabriella sat there watching different emotions run across his face as multiple thoughts went through her head. Was he angry with her for getting pregnant? What if he wasn't ready to be a father and didn't want anything to do with the baby? Her own father hadn't been there for her when she was a little girl because he was always working, and she definitely didn't want that for her own children. She wanted the father of her children to always be there for them; then again she had always imagined being married before she ever got pregnant.

Troy's eyes had grown large. "What?" he whispered harshly.

"I'm pregnant, Troy."

Troy shook his head. "No…you're lying."

Gabriella frowned and shook her head. "No, Troy. I'm telling the truth."

"No, this is your way of trying to get me back. Well guess what…it's not going to work. I'm not going to allow you to ruin my life."

"I'm not trying to ruin your life," Gabriella said, fighting back sobs. "I'd never want to do anything to you to intentionally hurt you. I love you, Troy, whether you want to believe that or not. But you deserve to know that you're going to be a father."

"You need to leave."

"What?" Gabriella whispered.

Troy looked at her, anger flashing in his eyes. "You need to leave…now. I want you out, out of my house and out of my life."

Gabriella finally allowed the sobs she'd been holding back to consume her as she stood up from the bed and walked toward the door. Her fears were actually coming true. She turned around one last time and took a deep breath, controlling her emotions temporarily. "I love you, Troy. Please remember that. And please know that no matter what happens from here on out, you will always be welcomed into this child's life." Gabriella placed her hand on her stomach. "I'd never want my child to grow up not knowing who his or her father is."

Gabriella turned and walked out the door, ignoring the surprised look on Troy's face. As she got to the bottom of the stairs and started toward the door, she heard Lucille.

"Gabriella?" Gabriella turned to face Lucille who was coming from the kitchen. Lucille saw the tear streaks on her face. "Oh, sweetie! I guess it didn't go well?"

Gabriella shook her head and pointed toward the door. "I'm going to go."

Lucille nodded and pulled Gabriella to her in an embrace. "Know that you're always welcome in our home no matter what has happened."

Gabriella pulled back and nodded, trying to give Lucille a small smile, but struggling. "Thanks. I'll see you later, Lucille."

Gabriella left and drove away, trying to figure out where to go from here. She had no one to turn to now and nowhere to go.

What kind of life was that for the little one growing inside her?

**Please read and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 2

Troy sat up in bed thinking about the conversation with Gabriella the day before. He had lay awake all night thinking about what she had told him. He had two main thoughts going through his head, and both of them revolved back to one major thing: he couldn't believe she was trying to manipulate him into getting back together. The first thing he was thinking was that maybe she had reverted back to her old ways and had gotten pregnant and was now trying to pin the pregnancy on someone who she thought was more reliable than a one night stand. His second thought was that maybe she wasn't pregnant at all and was just doing anything in her power to get him back. Either way, he couldn't believe she would stoop so low.

However, he had a conflict arise in him the more he thought about it. First of all, he still loved her and hated thinking the worst of her. Secondly, in the time he'd gotten to know her more personally, not once had he seen the side of her that he'd come to know about from her past. Could she really have been telling the truth? For the longest time, he'd been debating on whether or not to contact her and try to work things out, but he'd always chickened out and never actually took that step. Now this new knowledge definitely threw a curveball, but still made him wonder if maybe he was overreacting to the whole thing.

As he sat there thinking, Troy couldn't help but beat himself up for the way he had treated Gabriella. Even if she had betrayed him, he knew she was searching for some sort of help. He wasn't sure why she didn't just reach out to her family, but he could tell by the look in her eyes that she had wanted his help for some reason.

Thinking back on the hurt that he'd seen written all over her face, he couldn't help but feel regret for the way things had ended between the two. Plus, he had lots of questions for her now that he felt needed to be answered. Troy got ready and drove to Gabriella's parent's house, expecting to find her there. When he knocked on the door, her mom answered.

"Well hello Troy. What are you doing here?" Maria asked.

"I was looking for Brie. Is she here?"

Maria shook her head and Troy saw the anger flash through her eyes. He knew she must be upset about the pregnancy. "No, she's not here…nor will she be here any time soon. We refuse to take responsibility for carelessness. Honestly, I thought she would be with you. You are the father, are you not?"

Troy looked at the ground then back up to Maria. "I'd like to say I am, but I'm not sure," Troy said quietly. "Gabriella told me yesterday that I am, but considering her past…"

"You think she cheated on you?" Maria asked, surprise evident in her voice.

Troy shrugged. "I'm not sure what to think anymore, honestly."

Maria let out a sigh. "Troy, I definitely don't agree with the situation that my daughter got herself into, but I do know one thing. Gabriella would never cheat on you. She loved you very much and wouldn't ever try to hurt you like that."

Troy nodded slowly, understanding what Maria was saying and beginning to believe it himself. "I made a big mistake yesterday when she came to talk to me and told her to get out. Do you by chance know where I could find her?"

Maria shook her head. Her hard exterior returned. "I refuse to talk to that girl. You won't find her here or at her brother's. We refuse to take care of such an irresponsible person. Perhaps she found one of her friends to take her in. She took her things and left yesterday morning, though."

Troy frowned thinking about Gabriella. She could be anywhere and he had to find her. "Thank you, Maria." Troy turned and left, wracking his brain trying to figure out where she would have gone. Most of her friends either didn't live in the area anymore or didn't have the space to take her in. And she wouldn't go to just anyone. She wasn't one who asked people for help.

He called her cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Where could she be? He called her friend Taylor, but Taylor hadn't seen her. He called a few more of her friends, but none of them had seen her either. He started to get worried. Had she left town? Where would she have gone?

Lucille called Troy and asked him to run some errands for her while he was out. He agreed, figuring he could think about his next step in searching for Gabriella while he was getting things done for his mom. He went to Wal-Mart and picked up the few items Lucille needed. As he was leaving the parking lot, he spotted a car parked in a remote area of the parking lot that looked like Gabriella's. He drove over by it and found that it was Gabriella's. She was sitting alone in the car with all her belongings in the backseat.

Gabriella was sitting in her car. She had slept there last night, not having anywhere else she could go. She hadn't slept very well. Not only was the seat of her car not very comfortable, but being in such a public place made her uncomfortable as well. She worried constantly throughout the night about her safety. She wondered how safe she was and if anyone would actually bother her. Thankfully she had made it through the night without any problems, but that didn't make her feel any better. She was still worried about having to do that again for multiple nights until she was able to set up alternate arrangements.

Gabriella counted the cash she had on hand. She had four hundred dollars in the bank and another seventy-six dollars in cash. She could have gotten a hotel room for the night, but she was trying to use her money sparingly until she found a job so she could get by. Using her money for something like a hotel would have taken a good amount of the money she had and she wasn't willing to part with it so easily when she knew she would need food and a few other necessities in the days to come.

Gabriella grabbed her phone, turning it on, and started going through all the numbers she had, trying to figure out if there was anywhere she could go. She knew she needed to make the calls now before she had to go shut her phone off. She wouldn't be able to pay for a phone until she had a job. When the phone loaded up, she realized she had four new text messages. They were all from Troy. She began reading them.

_Can we talk?_

_I really think we need to discuss what you told me yesterday._

_Where are you?_

_Please call me and let me know you're ok._

Gabriella was surprised that Troy had even tried contacting her considering how their conversation had ended the day before. Just as she was about to send him a message back, she noticed a car pulling in next to hers. She was shocked to see that it was Troy. How did he find her? He got out and walked to her window, signaling for her to roll it down.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Hi," Troy said back, just as softly. "Can we talk?"

Gabriella hesitated for a moment then nodded her head. "Yeah, I think we need to."

Troy pointed towards his car. "Why don't you hop in and we'll talk."

Gabriella got out of her car and got into Troy's. Troy got back in on the driver's side and turned towards Gabriella.

"What are you doing sitting in Wal-Mart parking lot in your car?" Gabriella shrugged and Troy sighed. "Brie, I know about the situation with your family. I went to your parent's house this morning to see you. Your mom made it very clear what she thought."

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah…which is the reason you found me in my car."

"Is this where you're staying? Because I've called some of your friends and they said they haven't seen you, so I know you're not staying with them."

Gabriella turned and looked out her window. She was ashamed of the fact that she was currently living out of her car. She knew she really didn't have any other options until she found a job and earned an income, but she also knew she couldn't lie to Troy. She just didn't want him to start feeling sorry for her.

"Brie, did you sleep in your car last night?" he asked quietly.

Gabriella felt his hand on her arm, rubbing it gently. She turned and looked at Troy. "Yeah," she said quietly.

Troy felt a deep compassion for Gabriella like he'd never felt before. "Brie," Troy whispered, grabbing Gabriella's hand. "I was an ass yesterday. I can't believe I treated you the way I did."

"I understand, Troy. Why should you believe anything I say? You were right. I didn't trust you enough to tell you what my past was like when I was in college. I should have just been honest with you but I was so afraid of you thinking less of me. But you changed me. You made me want to be a better person and I strived so hard to be that person. You made me grow up and I never once pretended to be the person that you saw. What you saw was me. I always knew I could be myself around you."

"Brie, I'm so sorry for everything I've said and done." Troy paused and took a deep breath. "I have to admit that this morning as I was thinking through things, I was thinking the worst of you. I kept thinking that in some way you were still lying to me. Either the child wasn't mine and you had cheated on me, or you weren't pregnant at all. But…"

Gabriella interrupted him. "You thought I cheated on you?" she whispered harshly, hurt lacing her voice. "I can't believe you thought I would hurt you like that."

"I'm so sorry, Brie. I know now that I was wrong. Your mom even let her hard exterior down long enough to tell me that. I think I've been so concentrated on the fact that I didn't know about your past that it's been clouding my judgment. I know that's no excuse, but that's the truth." He paused for a moment and looked out the window before returning his gaze to Gabriella. "Are we really going to have a baby?" he asked quietly.

Gabriella nodded. "Well, I am, at least. It's up to you on whether there will be a "we" involved in that or not."

The two of them sat quietly as Troy thought about his response. The pause in conversation made Gabriella feel anxious. She knew what answer she wanted to hear from Troy. But what if that wasn't the answer he was willing to provide? What if her fear was still going to come true, even after some of the things he'd already said had given her a little bit of hope for the future? What if she truly was left to herself to take care of this baby alone? Could she do it all alone with no support?

**Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! This is another story I've had on my computer for quite a while that I've been working on slowly. I had written it as a one-shot originally, but going back and re-reading it, I found I wasn't very happy with it. So I've been re-writing and turning it into a longer story. I'm estimating maybe 8 or 9 chapters. Please leave me a review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**Chapter 3**

Gabriella sat waiting for Troy to speak up, but the longer the pause in conversation, the more anxious she became. What felt like hours, was only moments. She felt like she needed to elaborate on the comment she had made, though.

"Troy, let me just say that I know this isn't what either of us were planning and we hadn't really talked about kids that much. It wasn't exactly something I expected at this point in my life. I thought I'd be married before any children came along. But I'm leaving this entirely up to you, what you do. I know this doesn't exactly make things easy for you since you're getting ready to start your second year of college. I want you to be involved in this child's life, but I'm not going to force you to be, especially since things aren't the best with us right now."

Troy tilted his head and looked at Gabriella with compassion. He could see the same fear in her that he felt in himself. This was a scary situation for both of them. He let go of Gabriella's hand.

Gabriella thought that Troy was pulling away from her, trying to put a distance between them. So she was surprised when she felt him wrap his arms around her in an embrace.

"I'm scared, Brie. I know we're both scared right now. But I want you to know you're not alone. I'm here for you. I want to be here for you." He pulled back so he could see her face, but stayed leaned forward with his hands on her arms. "I've missed you so much. I was an ass yesterday to make you think otherwise. I was just shocked by the announcement and still in my defensive mode. But it was wrong of me to do exactly what I accused you of…not putting trust in our relationship. Brie, that's what I've been doing the past couple of months by thinking the worst of you. Yes, you may have a past. Who doesn't? But you're completely right. You've never given me any reason to ever doubt that you were pretending to be someone you're not. I love every part of who you are."

Gabriella looked into Troy's eyes and saw nothing but honesty. "You really mean that?"

Troy grinned at her. "Absolutely. I've been so stupid, Brie. I can't believe I ignored you for so long and thought I could live without you. I love you so much and I'll keep telling you that until you believe me."

Gabriella giggled. "I believe you," she whispered. "I love you, too. I've missed you so much."

"I want to be involved in every moment of this child's life and I _need_ to be involved in your life. I have always dreamed of being a father and having you as the mother of my child makes it that much greater. I don't want this child to grow up being passed around from one parent to another or have to grow up not knowing one of his or her parents. I want him or her to have both and have a happy life…with both of us." Troy leaned down and captured Gabriella's lips with his for the first time in over a month. When he pulled back they both had matching smiles on their faces. "Now…about your living conditions." He pointed to her car.

Gabriella's smiled dropped and she let out a sigh. She looked away from Troy. "My life is so messed up right now and I'm so stressed. I've got to start looking for a job, find a place to live, get prepared for this baby somehow in all this chaos..."

Troy cut her off. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Babe, slow down." He rubbed his hands up and down her arms. "We'll figure it all out together, I promise. I'm not going anywhere this time."

"Really?" Gabriella asked quietly.

"Of course. Let's just focus on one thing at a time. I love you, you love me. Let's be happy…together. Deal?"

Gabriella giggled. "I wish it was as simple as that."

"Look…I know it's a lot more complicated than that and we have a lot to work on. But I feel like this baby is giving us a second chance to be together. I don't want to miss that chance. I don't want to lose you."

Gabriella smiled. "I don't want to lose you either."

"Ok…that's settled. We'll keep talking things out and eventually we'll get things worked out. But for now, I think we can agree that we want to be together. Am I right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yes."

"Good," Troy smiled. "Now on to the second thing…your living conditions. There's no way I'm going to allow you to sleep in your car anymore…not even for a night. I refuse to let my beautiful girlfriend and mother of my baby live like that."

Gabriella smiled and looked down at her lap before looking back up at Troy with a more serious face. "Troy, what am I supposed to do? I don't have anywhere to go."

"Do you even have any money? Or do you only have your possessions?"

"I have some money. I thought about getting a hotel room for the night since I had nowhere else to go but I didn't want to waste what little money I had on something like that when I'm probably going to need it more for food and future housing. I wasn't really sure who else I could call for help, so I did the only thing I knew to do."

Troy thought for a moment. "Brie…baby…I don't ever want you to sleep in a car again. I want to take care of you. And eventually I want to help you take care of this baby. But in order for all that to happen, you have to agree to come home with me today."

Gabriella felt apprehension. "Oh, Troy…I can't do that. Not only would I be intruding on you, I'd be intruding on your parents as well."

Troy let out a sigh. "Baby, you wouldn't be intruding on any of us. I love you and I would love to have you there. And you know my parents wouldn't care. Then, if you felt like you were truly in the way or if you were uncomfortable staying there, you could get a place once you get back on your feet. Maybe we could even get a place together so I could take care of you." Troy grinned. Troy stared at her for a few minutes before he became serious. "God…I'm so upset with your family right now for putting you in a situation like this, but I think I'm most upset with myself. If I had just heard you out yesterday and had been sensible, we wouldn't have had this problem. You would have had a bed to sleep in last night."

"No…Troy, you can't blame yourself for this. You were totally reasonable in asking me to leave."

Troy shook his head. "No, Brie!" he shouted, startling Gabriella. "I was awful to you. This whole mess is my fault. If I had been more responsible that night and thought more of you rather than myself, this wouldn't have happened. If I had just really thought about how genuine and honest you are and how much you do care for me, how you would never intentionally hurt me…"

"Shh…Troy." Gabriella wrapped her arms around Troy and pulled him toward her. "Please don't beat yourself up over this. It's in the past now. Let's just move on and go from here. We can't change what's happened. We just have to take what we do have now and try to make the best of it."

Troy pulled back and nodded. "You're right. So the first thing we're going to do is get you to my house and settled in." Gabriella started to interrupt. "No…no arguing. Even if it's temporary…"

Gabriella let out a sigh in acquiescence. "Fine…"

Troy grinned and leaned over to kiss her softly before pulling away once again. "Go get in your car and follow me to the house."

Gabriella nodded and got out to get in her car, following Troy to his house. When she got there, she got out of her car and followed Troy inside, leaving her belongings in her car until she made sure the Boltons were going to allow her to stay here temporarily.

"Mom, Dad. I'm back," Troy hollered as he shut the door behind Gabriella. Lucille came walking into the living room from the kitchen.

"Oh…hi, Gabriella," Lucille smiled. "I didn't realize you were going to be here." She walked over and gave Gabriella a hug.

"I hope I'm not intruding on anything," Gabriella said apprehensively.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you're not intruding," Troy said in her ear as he walked by, a smirk plastered on his face. "Is she, Mama?" he asked Lucille, giving her a kiss on her cheek as he walked off to the kitchen, carrying the bags of items he'd picked up earlier in the day.

"Absolutely not. I told you yesterday you're always welcomed here no matter what. I'm just glad to see you and Troy social once again. We've missed seeing you around here, Sweetie."

Gabriella smiled and looked around, taking a deep breath. "I've missed being here as well. This has always felt like my second home."

Lucille led Gabriella into the room where they sat down and began talking. Troy came in and sat next to Gabriella on the couch, wrapping his arm around her. Lucille smiled at the two from her place in the chair across from them.

"So Gabriella, I haven't had a chance to talk to you in a while. How's your dad doing?"

Troy felt Gabriella tense up, but she still answered. "Oh…he's doing about the same, I guess," she said, her voice shaky.

Lucille didn't notice Gabriella's behavior. "Well that's good. At least he's not worse. How about the kids? Are you still taking care of them?"

"Uh…no. Not anymore. I'm looking for a full-time job now."

"Uh…Mom, we need to tell you something," Troy said, looking down at Gabriella and observing her reaction. He noticed she was still tense so he rubbed her back, letting her know he was right there with her through it all. "Where's Dad? We need him in here, too."

"He's in his office. I'll go get him." She stood up from her chair, keeping her eye on the two who now seemed very nervous. "Is everything ok?"

Troy smiled up at her. "It will be. Don't worry, Mom."

Lucille frowned and nodded before walking out of the room in search of Jack. She came back a few moments later with Jack following. They both sat down in chairs across from the couple.

"What's this about, Troy?" Jack asked.

"Mom, Dad. We need to tell you both something." Troy paused, taking a deep breath and calming his nerves. "Brie and I are going to have a baby."

"What? That's absurd," Jack said. "Troy, think about this. You're still in college, you're not even married, and I'm assuming you two just got back together. Before you go any further you need to think about the situation you both are in. Now is _not_ the time to plan to have a baby."

Troy shook his head. "No, Dad. You don't understand. We're not trying to have a baby, but it happened. Brie is pregnant."

**Well there is the next chapter! I've loved reading all the reviews! Keep them coming. I'm still working on the rest of the story. I've got an outline going and I think it may end up longer than I originally planned. I'm doing a lot of re-writing. Let me know what you think. I'm always open to suggestions for the future of the story!**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 4

_Troy shook his head. "No, Dad. You don't understand. We're not trying to have a baby, but it happened. Brie is pregnant." _

"Oh, my," Lucille said, shock on her face.

Jack looked upset and disappointed. "Troy, I raised you better than that. How could you go and get yourself in trouble like that? What are you going to do now with college?"

"I'm still going to go to college, Dad. It will probably get tougher after the baby gets here, but I know I can do it. There are no other options. Brie and I will raise this baby the way it should be raised. Only thing is…we have a few problems right now."

Lucille frowned. "What's wrong? You two are going to raise the baby together, right?" She looked at Gabriella. "You're not having complications with the pregnancy, are you?"

Gabriella shook her head. "Oh, no, nothing like that. The pregnancy has gone well so far. I'm only a couple months along. And Troy and I will raise the baby together. We've already discussed that."

"Well then what is it?" Jack asked.

"Brie is in a difficult position. Her entire family has disowned her, meaning she has no job and no place to go. We plan on working on getting her a job tomorrow. As far as where to live…last night she slept in her car and she really doesn't have anywhere to go. I told her she could stay here."

Gabriella spoke up. "Only if that's alright with you, of course. I wouldn't want to intrude at all."

Jack sat forward in his seat, his expression softened as he looked at the girl he'd learned to love like his own daughter. "Gabriella, I'm not giving you an option," he smirked. "You're staying here. You know you're always welcome here."

"Ok," Gabriella said quietly. "But as soon as I get a job and get some money saved up, I'll be out of your way. I won't impose on you any longer than necessary, especially in my condition."

Lucille stood up and walked over to sit by Gabriella, placing her hands on Gabriella's arms. "Gabi, you know we love you. You're like another daughter to us. You wouldn't be imposing on us. We've always told you you're always welcome here and that means right now as well. So there's no rush for you to find a place. Just focus on keeping comfortable and keeping your stress level down. Jack and I will be here to help you and Troy out with whatever you need until you can get back on your feet. We'll help you get your stuff and move you into Troy's room."

"Are you sure?" Gabriella asked quietly. Lucille nodded and Gabriella smiled at her. "I'd love to be here with you guys. I love you all so much. You've always been like another family to me and right now it seems like you're the only family I have. You have no idea how much it means to me that you're supporting Troy and I through this."

Lucille smiled and patted Gabriella's stomach. "That's my first grandbaby in there. Of course I have to support you!" Gabriella giggled. "I know how much you two mean to each other and knowing that this baby was made out of love is what matters, even though I wish you two had been married and settled together first."

Troy nodded. "I agree, Mom, but we're just going to have to deal with what life is giving us right now and go from there. Now we just have the problem of Gabriella not having a job and income. We're going to go tomorrow and get her set up with some of the local schools and see if she can substitute this year. It allows her to do what she loves while providing a low-stress job with a flexible schedule. I can ask for more hours at work so we'll have more money to save up for the baby. Then when we feel like we're both doing well enough financially, we'll start looking for a place together so we can raise the baby when it gets here."

Jack smiled. He knew he'd raised Troy to do the right thing, and hearing him step up and take care of the woman who was carrying his child made him happy. "Well it sounds like you two have a great plan. But, Troy, take it easy at work. I don't want you over-working yourself and getting stressed out. You need to focus on college right now while you don't have the extra distractions of raising a child. Your mom and I will help the two of you out where you need it with money. I don't want either of you worrying about that. It won't be good for either one of you during this time."

Gabriella stared at Jack. He had been smiling the whole time he was talking, so she knew he wasn't upset or concerned too much about whether or not the two would manage. But she also knew she couldn't allow Jack and Lucille to take them on. "Jack, that won't be necessary. I don't want you worrying about me. First thing tomorrow, I'll be out there getting a job. Then as soon as I get some money saved up, I'll get a place and be out of here."

Jack shook his head but smiled at Gabriella. "How many times do we need to tell you that you're not in the way here? We love having you here. I only want you to do what you are going to be comfortable doing while you go through this pregnancy. I don't want you to feel forced into doing anything. And I definitely don't want you stressed." Jack paused and took a breath. "But we love you, Gabriella, and I want you to know that we're here for you to help you and support you and Troy through this. We're not going to throw you out on the street."

Gabriella smiled and looked down for a moment before making eye contact with Jack. "Thank you," she said quietly.

Troy stood there smiling. He knew how much his parents' kindness meant to Gabriella, especially right now. But he also knew how much his parents cared for Gabriella, especially since they were so willing to help her out with something like this.

"We'd better get her things out of the car and settled in," Troy said. He turned to look at Gabriella. "I'm sure you're exhausted. You couldn't have slept very well last night. I want you to go up to my room and rest for a while, while I get your things from your car." Gabriella started to argue but Troy cut her off, holding his hand up. "Nope…no arguing. You need rest." Troy leaned in and placed his forehead against hers, speaking in quiet tones. "I need you to take care of yourself…and I need you to take care of our baby."

Gabriella smiled. She loved hearing him take claim on their baby. "Ok," she said with reluctance. She got up and walked upstairs while Troy and Jack went to her car to bring in her belongings.

Gabriella curled up on the bed and closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of Troy. She'd missed him so much over the past five weeks and never wanted to be without him again. She was just about to doze off when she heard Troy come in the room. She opened her eyes partially to see him standing next to the bed observing her.

"I thought you wanted me to sleep," she said, teasing evident in her voice.

Troy chuckled. "I do want you to sleep. Sorry I disturbed you." Troy sat down on the edge of the bed and removed his shoes before crawling under the covers next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, enjoying the feeling of having her back in his arms after so long.

"It's ok. I wasn't asleep yet anyways."

Troy placed a kiss to the top of Gabriella's head. "Your stuff is in the spare bedroom for now. Don't worry…you won't be sleeping in there. You'll be right here where you need to be." Gabriella giggled. "I just didn't want to take a chance of waking you if you had already gone to sleep. We'll move it in here later. Let's just focus on getting some rest for now. I can't imagine how little sleep you got last night in your car. I still can't believe you slept there. I hate the image of you sitting there alone in a public parking lot where anything could have happened to you…"

Gabriella put her fingers over Troy's lips to stop him. She sensed him getting worked up. "Troy, I realize that last night's arrangements weren't exactly the ideal situation, nor anything that I would want to experience again. But I'm fine. We have to focus on that now. Like you've said before…we can't change what has already happened. We have to take what we have now and go with it. Right now we need to focus on strengthening our relationship and preparing for this baby. We'll take it one step at a time."

Troy took a deep breath, knowing Gabriella was right, and nodded his head. "I love you so much. I just don't know what I would do if something had happened to you; which is why I'm not letting you go ever again. Meaning…when you're ready to get a place, we need to discuss it because I want us to get a place together."

Gabriella looked up at Troy from her place on his chest. "You mean that?" she asked quietly.

"Definitely."

Gabriella smiled at him then settled back down on his chest. "I love the sound of that. I'd love to make a home with you, and eventually our baby."

"Me too," Troy whispered. "I love you, Brie. Nothing will change that." He felt Gabriella smile against his chest.

"I love you, too, Troy."

The two settled down together and drifted to sleep, both of them getting a much needed nap in after not having slept the night before. When Gabriella awoke later, she removed herself from the bed, trying not to disturb Troy too much, and went downstairs. She found Lucille sitting in the living room reading.

"Hi, Lucille."

Lucille looked up from her book as Gabriella sat on the couch across from her. "Hi, Gabriella. Did you sleep well? You look more rested."

Gabriella nodded. "I did, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me that you're allowing me to stay here. Even just having a nap in a decent bed felt good. I don't know how many more nights I would have lasted in my car."

Lucille visibly cringed. "Sweetie, I don't want to think about that. I'm just glad that you are here. I'm so glad that you and Troy have been able to work things out. I know that things have been strained between the two of you, and I don't know what happened between you to cause it all. But I'm glad you're back together even if only for the sake of the baby. I haven't seen a smile on his face like that in over a month."

Gabriella smiled. "I know the feeling. I've been so stressed with family stuff, with my dad's health continuously decreasing, plus me being sick. And I've wanted Troy there for every part of it, but he wasn't answering my phone calls and refused to see me. I know it's probably bad of me to say this, but I'm actually glad this baby happened. I know everyone hoped we'd be married before it happened and hopefully one day we will be married. But it brought us back together and I honestly couldn't be happier right now. We still have a lot to discuss, but I know we're going to be ok."

**Well there's chapter 4. Hope you liked it! There's more to come. Please review and let me know what you thought!**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 5

Gabriella was now five months pregnant. She'd been living with Troy and his parents now for three months. She'd gone to the doctor the week after she moved in to have her first ultrasound done and the doctor confirmed that she was 8 ½ weeks along at that point. Troy and Gabriella continued to talk about everything. They agreed to keep the past in the past and to make sure they communicated in the future rather than relying on someone else's word. Their relationship was the strongest it had ever been.

The relationship between Gabriella and her family was still strained but getting better. Her father still wanted nothing to do with her, saying she'd ruined the family name, but her mother tried to meet up with her occasionally for lunch on the weekends. Her brother and sister-in-law had finally come to terms with it as well. They wanted to be a part of this exciting part of Gabriella's life and knew that the kids would as well. They apologized to her for saying she was a bad influence and regularly met up with her so she could see the kids and keep them informed on her pregnancy.

Gabriella had begun substitute teaching a couple weeks after moving in with the Boltons and had been saving up money to move out. She had a decent savings and had been looking at apartments around town after she left the school when she knew Troy would be either at work or in class. She hadn't told him she'd been looking.

They hadn't discussed the possibility of them moving into an apartment together since that first day she'd been back with him. She wasn't sure if he still wanted to move out of his parents' house at this point. Maybe he'd changed his mind and would rather wait until they got married? She had found an apartment that she knew she could afford and she really liked. It was within a good distance from the schools and it also wasn't too far from Jack and Lucille's. She had an appointment to sign a lease on it. She just had to figure out how to tell Troy…

Troy fell more in love with Gabriella every day. They'd been together a little over a year now and Troy knew that this girl was the one who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He had used part of the savings he'd had before finding out about the baby to buy Gabriella a ring. He hadn't even told his parents he was going to do it. He was just trying to find the right moment.

Thanksgiving night, Troy and Gabriella went upstairs to go to bed. Gabriella put on a pair of sweatpants and one of Troy's old sweatshirts to wear to bed while Troy went into the bathroom to take a shower. When Troy came out, he only had a towel wrapped around his waist and stood in the doorway watching Gabriella. She was sitting on their bed reading a book about parenting. She looked up and smiled at Troy.

"What are you looking at?" she asked, a small smile on her face.

"You," he said simply. "You're so beautiful, Brie, especially when pregnant."

Gabriella blushed. "Whatever, Troy. Just wait another month or two. I'll be as big as a whale. We'll see what you say then."

Troy shook his head and laughed as he walked towards the bed. "I'll love you even more then. You're carrying my child, and that makes me love you even more than I ever thought possible." Troy knelt up on the bed and leaned down to kiss Gabriella, pulling back to look her in the eye.

Gabriella took a breath as she looked at Troy, knowing now that she had him alone, she needed to let him know she was signing her lease in two days.

"Troy, I need to talk to you about something."

Troy frowned. "Really? Because I want to talk to you about something, too."

Gabriella nodded. "Do you want to go first?"

Troy shook his head. "No, you go first. I can wait a few minutes." He smiled at her.

She nodded again. "Troy, please don't be upset with me about this, but after school most days for the last couple of weeks, I've been looking at apartments around town."

Troy's eyebrows shot up. "Really? I didn't realize you were already thinking about moving out. Why didn't you say anything? I thought we were going to discuss this and then possibly look together."

Gabriella looked down at her lap where her book lay. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I thought about that, but I also knew we had only talked about it one time and nothing had been mentioned since that day. I was afraid you'd changed your mind, so I didn't want to say anything. Plus, I can only stay here so long. I'm getting to a point where I know I'm going to start getting in your parent's way. And I need to make sure that I have a place set up for our baby by the time it gets here. So finding a place now is crucial."

Troy frowned and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I see what you're saying. But what about us moving out of here together and finding an apartment. Is that still a possibility or did you rule that out?" Troy paused for a moment then quickly spoke up again. "Not that I'm trying to force you into living with me or anything…I just thought we were on the same page."

"We were," Gabriella said. "I mean…we _are_. I just wasn't sure you were ready to move out even though I am. I know you love being close to your family. I do, too. But I also know that living together is going to come with a lot more responsibility. We're going to have to worry about bills and finances. Plus, you're still going to have the added stress of school. Then we have the baby to think about." Gabriella took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. "I don't want you to take on too much at one time. I don't want you to come to resent me at any point or feel like I've trapped you in some kind of situation you can't get out of."

"Is that how you see this? You think you're trapping me right now? Brie, I thought I made it clear how I feel about you. Yes, we have this baby to think about, and it did bring us back together. But that's not why I'm with you. I'm with you because I love you…" Troy trailed off and took a deep breath knowing this was the perfect moment he had been waiting for, for the past month.

Gabriella gave Troy a weird look when she looked up at him. It had seemed like he wanted to say more, but he'd stopped. Now he was staring at her with a very intense gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Troy shook his head and smiled at her. "Brie…Baby, I love you, so much. We've known each other for so long, and if someone had told me a few years ago when we first met that we would end up together with a baby on the way, I would have said they were crazy. But, honestly, I can't imagine myself with anyone else, and I don't want to." He got up and walked over to his drawer, pulling out the ring box he'd hidden there nearly a month ago, and walked back over to the bed, kneeling down next to it on one knee. He opened the box and heard Gabriella's gasp. "Brie, will you please marry me? I know that we'll need to wait for a while until after the baby is born and wait until we have our own place and everything, but I love you so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Gabriella looked back and forth between Troy and the ring, a sense of panic rushing over her. "I…uh…I…Troy…I need to think." She jumped up and started to run past Troy but he grabbed her wrist gently.

"Brie, please don't run away," he pleaded softly, looking her in the eyes.

Gabriella saw the hurt in his eyes. It sent a pain straight to her gut as she knew she was the cause of that pain. But she also knew she couldn't rush into this. She moved her free hand to cup Troy's cheek. "I'm not running away. I just need some time alone to think about this." Troy frowned, not really understanding, but nodded anyway, knowing he didn't want to push her. "I'll be in the guest bedroom. I'm not going far. Please know I love you, but I just need a little time."

Troy nodded again and watched her go and shut the door behind her. He moved from his place on the floor by the bed to sit on the edge of the bed. He leaned his elbows on his legs and cradled his head in his hands. What had he done? Had he just messed up the best thing that had ever happened to him?

Gabriella went to lie in the guest bedroom as multiple thoughts flowed through her mind, trying to figure out what exactly had made her panic so badly. Then she realized it was because of all the questions she had in her head. It wasn't that she didn't want to marry him, because she honestly couldn't imagine ever being with anyone else, nor did she have a desire to be with anyone but Troy. And it wasn't that she didn't want to move in with him. She had loved living with him, sharing a bedroom with him, for the past few months. She loved waking up to him every morning and coming home to him every evening.

What bothered her was why did he want _her_? What did he find so special about her that would make him want to spend the rest of his life with her? She'd practically ruined his life by getting pregnant. Sure, he stayed in college and continued his classes and work, but she knew his stress load was going to get much bigger once the baby arrived. And to top all that off, he wanted to move in together and get married?

Gabriella lay there for a while until she realized she wasn't going to get any sleep. She walked downstairs to the kitchen and fixed herself a cup of warm milk, something she had found soothing to drink since being pregnant. She curled up on the couch with her mug and allowed the thoughts swirling through her head to consume her.

Troy lay awake in bed for most of the night. He was exhausted, but he knew he needed to figure out what to do. He knew what he wanted to do: go get Gabriella from the spare bedroom and talk to her about this whole mess. But he knew he couldn't do that. He couldn't rush her into making a decision. He had to give her time and space. What scared him about that, though, was the more time it took her to make her decision, the more afraid he became of her pulling away from him even more. And that was something that scared him above all else. He knew what it was like to be without Gabriella and he never wanted to experience that again.

Questions swirled in Troy's head. What had scared her so much? Why had she tried to run away? There was something going on in her head that he didn't understand and he needed to know what it was – a thought that had instantly made her panic. He'd seen the look on her face. As he lay there, he finally made a decision. He would talk to her tomorrow, but he would let her know he wasn't pushing her to make a decision. He wanted her to have her space, but he also wanted her to know that it was important to him that they communicate while trying to figure everything out, rather than her shutting him out. He needed to know what she was thinking and if she even felt that they had a future together like he saw for them…

**Review please! Let me know what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**Chapter 6**

Troy had slept for a brief time before waking up once again. He sat in bed wide awake knowing he wasn't going to be sleeping again anytime soon. He was exhausted, but he was too worried to think about sleep. He felt like he'd been placed between a rock and a hard place. He wanted so badly to talk to Gabriella. He wanted to know what she was thinking and figure out where he'd gone wrong. Was it just too soon or did she not like the idea of them getting married? He really thought they had been on the same page and that she had wanted to marry him too.

However, Troy knew that if he didn't give Gabriella the space like she asked, he would end up pushing her away even further than she'd already placed herself and he couldn't afford risking losing her, even though the thought was circling through his head that he had already possibly lost her.

He lay awake, thankful for having the next day off. But he wasn't sure what the day would hold. Would things be awkward between the two of them? Would she avoid him all day? Would she place even more distance between them and find somewhere else to stay until she was able to move into her new apartment?

Troy and Gabriella both eventually cried themselves to sleep, both afraid of the same thing: that they'd screwed up the best thing that had ever happened to them. Gabriella had fallen asleep on the couch. So she was awoken to the sounds of Lucille and Jack moving around early the next morning.

Lucille had been concerned when she had come downstairs early that morning to fix Jack breakfast before he left for work. She had been on her way to the kitchen when she spotted Gabriella on the couch in the living room. That could only mean a couple of things. Either the baby had been keeping her up and she didn't want to disturb Troy, or she and Troy had had an argument. She hoped it was the former. She didn't worry as much anymore about Troy and Gabriella's arguments. She knew they easily worked them out because they loved each other. But she was still concerned about both of them when it happened.

When Gabriella awoke, she walked into the kitchen where she heard all the noise. Lucille was cleaning up the dishes that had been dirtied from Jack's breakfast. She heard Gabriella walk in and turned around.

"Oh, good morning, Gabi. You're up early."

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah…can't sleep. I think I'll just fix me some hot tea. Maybe that will help me relax more."

Lucille looked at Gabriella with concern etched in her features. "Everything ok? Is the baby keeping you up?"

Gabriella sighed as had her back to Lucille, placing her cup of water in the microwave. She turned around and faced Lucille and shook her head. "No, the baby is fine. Troy and I had a disagreement of sorts last night. He wasn't trying to upset me and in a way he didn't really upset me. I've just got a lot to think about and right now it almost feels like we're on two totally different pages of a book we want to try to write together."

Lucille frowned. "I guess I don't understand. I thought you both were on the right track. I thought everything was going well for you."

Gabriella sighed again as she finished making her tea and went to sit down at the table. Lucille followed her and sat down next to her. "Things were going great until I ended up screwing things up." Gabriella took a small sip of her tea before clearing her throat and continuing. "For the past couple of weeks, I've been using my evenings to look at apartments while Troy is still at work or in class. I didn't tell him or anyone else that I was doing it. I feel like this is something that I need to do. Not because I feel like I have to leave here, but because I feel as a mother-to-be that it needs to be done. I need my own place so I can be prepared when this baby gets here. I need to start thinking about putting together a nursery, some place that the baby can settle into when it's born. I don't want my child to be moved all over or not have a place it can call home. It's very important to me for her to have that one place where she will always feel secure."

Lucille nodded. "I couldn't agree with you more. So, does Troy not agree?" she asked, confused on how Troy was involved and why it would lead to a disagreement.

Gabriella ran her fingers through her hair as she sat back in her chair. "Well I didn't exactly tell him all of that. All that I told him was that I had found an apartment that I would be signing a lease on tomorrow. He wasn't too happy about that because I didn't include him. Lucille, I wasn't trying to hurt him. I'm trying to look out for him. I'm so afraid that I'm going to be the one to screw up his life."

Lucille's surprise was clearly shown on her face. "Screw up his life? Sweetie, you could never do that. Troy loves you."

Gabriella nodded. "I know that. But I love him so much and I feel like all I've done is throw this curveball into his life that has completely changed everything. And all that change has done is cause more and more stress for him. First with just a relationship, then with the baby, and now he wants to move in together and get married. What I don't think he's considered is that he's going to have all of that on top of his job and college. He doesn't need all of that."

Lucille frowned. "Gabi, I don't think Troy thinks of it that way. I do agree that he probably needs to think through it a little more, especially considering it doesn't seem like you two are really prepared for these major steps. But I do know Troy, and I know that he's probably not seeing it as more stress. He's probably trying to make these steps just because he simply loves you and wants to be with you. I've watched him over the past couple of months and I have been completely impressed with how he's stepped up to the plate. He's taken on a lot of roles in a small amount of time, but I know it's because he feels the need to do so, not because he feels forced to do it. He's trying to be the man that you need him to be."

Gabriella nodded as she sat her tea mug back on the table and let out a breath. "I just have a lot to think about. I think Troy and I need to have a serious talk about where we each stand on certain matters and see where we are on the same page. I just feel like everything is moving so quickly and beginning to get out of hand."

Lucille reached over and placed her hand on Gabriella's. "Just don't do something you know you'll end up regretting. Don't put yourself in a place that is only going to hurt you worse."

Gabriella gave Lucille a small smile and nodded. She stood up, taking her mug to the sink before heading out of the kitchen and back up to the bedroom she had shared with Troy for three months now. Troy was still asleep, but stirred when Gabriella lay down next to him, facing him but keeping a small distance between the two of them.

Troy had been awoken to Gabriella crawling in bed with him. As his eyes fluttered open, he took in her appearance as she lay staring at him. He gave her a small smile before turning to look at the clock: 6:45 a.m.

"What are you doing awake?" he asked quietly.

"I couldn't sleep. I ended up sleeping on the couch, but woke up when I heard your parents in the kitchen. By then the baby was moving around and I knew I wouldn't get any more sleep."

Troy tried to pull Gabriella into his embrace, but she resisted. His heart sunk. Gabriella saw the pain in his eyes as he pulled his hand back and sat up, turning to sit on the edge of the bed with his back to her.

"Troy, I've been talking to your mom. She made me think about a few things. I think we really need to talk." Gabriella saw Troy's head nod, but he still wouldn't look at her. Finally she heard his quiet voice.

"What part do you want to talk about? The part where I screwed this whole thing up? Or something else?" Troy kept staring at the floor, his arms braced on the edge of the bed on each side of him. He startled when he felt a hand gently pull at his shoulder. He slowly turned his head to look at Gabriella.

"Troy, you didn't screw anything up. I think everything that happened last night, everything that was said in our conversation, made me realize how differently we're thinking about things."

Troy turned around and frowned at Gabriella. "Really? I really thought we were on the same page. I thought you wanted to get married. I thought we were okay and that this was it for us…that we'd always be together…and raise our child together…and make more babies together."

Gabriella felt tears spring to her eyes. She reached out and placed her hand to Troy's cheek, scooting closer to him and wrapping her other arm around his neck. "Troy, I still want to be with you. I do want to marry you and raise this baby with you and make more babies with you in the future. I want to live with you…but I want those things in the future."

Troy frowned and shook his head, trying to understand what she was saying. "Are you saying that you want to break up for now? I don't understand. What happened? Where did I go wrong?" Troy's voice started to break as he spoke. "When did I start pushing you away?"

Gabriella shook her head vigorously. "No, Troy…that's not what I'm saying at all. I don't want to break up. You did nothing wrong. You haven't been pushing me away. I've just realized that I feel like we're moving so quickly and I just want it all to slow down. I just want to enjoy this time with you. And I'm trying to think about you in all of this as well…"

Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand and gently rubbed it. "What do you mean? I know what I want and what I want is to be with you…to marry you…to live with you. But if that's not what you want right now then it's okay. We don't have to take those steps."

Gabriella nodded. "I'm not saying I don't ever want to take those steps with you," she said quietly. "Just not right now. What I want is for you to be focused on finishing college instead of stressing yourself out on things that you shouldn't even be focused on."

"Is that how you're classifying all of this? Things I shouldn't be focused on? Brie, you are my main focus. You're my number one priority. All I want to do is be here for you and protect you."

"But you don't have to," she quickly responded. "I'm alright. I don't need protection. I'm flattered that you would put our relationship first, but I need you to finish college, and finish it well. Our baby needs you to finish well."

As Gabriella looked at Troy, she noticed the tears in his eyes for the first time since they started their conversation. "Brie," he whispered. "I love you so much. And all I want is to be the man that you deserve. This is one of the few times in our relationship where I've felt inadequate…where I've really thought about the age difference between you and me. I've always felt like we were equals up until you told me you were pregnant…"

"What?" Gabriella whispered, shocked that Troy would feel that way.

**Well there's chapter 6! This story is about halfway finished now. I have an outline for the rest of the story. I'm working on writing the next few chapters. My plans for this story changed and I've been rewriting some of the chapters that I had already written. Leave me a review and let me know what you think! I love to hear your thoughts! I'm also open to hearing ideas for future chapters!**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 7

Gabriella sat there shocked. Troy thought he was inadequate?

Troy got up from his place on the bed and began to pace back and forth, running his fingers through his hair. "Brie, you've gone through so much in the past couple of months and I don't feel like I've been the person that you've needed to be there for you. I don't feel good enough. All I've wanted to do is be here to protect you and love you. I want to be the type of father you want for your child. I want to be the type of man you want for a husband. But in some ways I feel like our age difference is getting in the way."

Gabriella shook her head. "No, Troy. You don't understand. I love you. And I want to marry you…someday. Just not right away. You are the man that I want…the man that I need. You're the perfect person to be the father of my child…the one I want to father all of my children. I just feel like we're going full speed ahead suddenly and I want to put the brakes on and slow down some. We have all the time in the world to take these steps. I just think that right now we need to be focusing on taking the steps that are here and now rather than adding more things to the mix. We need to prepare for our baby to be born and you need to finish this year at college. Plus you've got two more years of college to worry about."

Troy looked at Gabriella in concern, thinking through what she was saying, but also trying to read between the lines and determine what exactly was going through her head. "Is that what you're really worried about? Or do you suddenly just need some space? Have I been too protective? Hovering too much?" Troy lowered his voice to a whisper with his concern, "Please be honest with me here."

Gabriella let the sob out that she'd been holding for quite a while. She reached to Troy and pulled his hand until he crawled back on the bed with her. When he got settled, Gabriella crawled in his lap, burying her face in his neck and wrapping her arms around it. Troy wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back, trying to calm her down. When she calmed down enough to talk, she leaned back so she could see Troy's face. He reached one hand up to wipe her tears away.

"Troy, all I want is to see you succeed. But I feel like in the past five months all I've done is pull you down…first with you feeling like I had betrayed you, then with the pregnancy, and now with the topics of marriage and living together." Troy started to interrupt, but Gabriella put her fingers to his lips to stop him. "No…please let me say this. You asked me to be honest and this is how I really feel." Troy nodded, so Gabriella continued. "Troy, before we take any more steps…assuming you'll want to after this…I really want you to make sure you're thinking through it and how it's going to affect you, especially with you still in college."

"Wait…" Troy interrupted. "So, our age difference really does matter. The thing holding you back is the fact that I'm so much younger than you and still in college." Troy shook his head in disbelief. He couldn't believe it was actually coming to this. They had finally gotten to a point where their age difference had never come between them, had never mattered to them. And now this…

Gabriella shook her head. "Troy, it's not holding me back. I don't want to take any more steps in our relationship until we are both ready and I don't feel like we're ready just yet. I think we both have enough on our plates to worry about right now. So instead of making this the thing that pulls us apart, can you just think about it…please? I just don't want to rush into something that is going to cause us problems later on. I want us to take our time and make sure we are fully prepared to take on all the responsibilities that come with getting married or moving in together." Gabriella took a deep breath.

Troy was beginning to get frustrated, but reminded himself to be rational. "Brie, I don't need you to be a parent to me. I already have two of them."

Gabriella was taken aback. "Troy, I'm not…"

Troy interrupted her. "Yes, you are, Brie. You're beginning to treat me like my parents always have, thinking that I'm making irrational decisions on a whim without really thinking about them in the long-term. Brie, I don't know how many times you want me to say this…but I love you. I will keep telling you that until you believe me."

"I believe you," she said quietly.

"Good," Troy let out a relieved sigh. "Then I need you to realize that I have fully thought about what's going to happen when we move in together and get married. I want it…and I want it with you."

"I want it, too. But your college…"

"My college? Brie, if I wasn't in college…if I had already graduated and had asked you to marry me, what would you have said?"

"I would have said yes."

"Well that's a relief," he said with a sigh. "Brie, is the whole college thing what's really holding you back from wanting to take the next step?" He paused and waited for a response, but it never came. "Baby…" he said, rubbing his hands up and down her arms. "I don't want you constantly worrying about me. That's my job." Gabriella frowned and started to interrupt, but Troy stopped her. "No, just listen. That's part of what I feel would make me a better man for you. You say you don't need protection, but I want to be there to protect you…to make sure you don't get hurt, to wipe away your tears. I want to be the one who helps you make your decisions, who's there for you constantly, no matter what the circumstances. I want to be that man. But I can't be unless you let me."

Gabriella sat there thinking for a moment, finally realizing where Troy was coming from, but knowing that there was still something holding her back, though she didn't want to voice what it was. Troy sensed that Gabriella was keeping something from him and studied her expression, her eyes. Then he finally realized what it was he was seeing: fear.

"You're scared." It wasn't a question. It was an observation. Gabriella startled at how well he could read her, though she should have known that she could never hide anything from Troy. She pulled back slightly from Troy and looked down at her lap, avoiding his gaze. Troy lifted her chin to look at him. "Talk to me," he whispered.

Gabriella nodded as more tears cascaded down her face. "Troy, I'm so scared of us getting in over our head. I'm scared of not being able to provide properly for our baby. I only want the best for us and for our child…for our future."

"And you're scared that I'm going to leave you." Gabriella frowned, but stayed silent. That was a thought that was on her mind a lot, but she never wanted to voice it. "Brie, your family may have left you, but they were stupid. They didn't know what they were missing when they chose not to be a part of your life. That's the difference between them and me. I do…I know what I miss when I'm not involved in your life. It makes me miserable, and I never want to have to go through that again. I know all couples go through ups and downs in relationships, and you can't ever guarantee that something isn't going to happen. But I want to make a promise to you right now…I promise that even when things get tough, I _will not_ run away. I will not leave you. I promise to always talk things out with you and work through things before ever discussing the prospect of us ending things. But if I have things my way, I'll never let you go…not unless you ask me to. I love you too much to ever try to make you stay with me if you were unhappy."

Gabriella gave him a wistful smile. "I don't think you'll ever have to worry about that. I love you and I don't want to ever have to worry about being without you again."

Troy leaned in and placed his lips softly against Gabriella's, feeling relief of being close to her once again. Gabriella wrapped her arms back around Troy's neck and pulled herself in closer. After a few moments of relishing the moment, Troy pulled back, placing his forehead against Gabriella's and looking at her. "So one step at a time?"

Gabriella nodded. "One step at a time." She placed another quick kiss to Troy's lips.

"So what's the first step?"

Gabriella took a deep breath. "Moving me out of here."

Troy's pain reflected in his eyes. He didn't like the thought of not being with Gabriella every night, but he knew he couldn't push her. He nodded. "Ok," he said quietly.

"I know it's not what you want, but this is what I need to do. I think right now we need to be focusing on saving up money, not only for the baby, but for the future as well. With things the way they are with my family, we both know that getting them to help us out with funds for a wedding is very unlikely."

Troy smiled, hearing her talk about a future wedding. "So how does this work for us? What are your plans for saving up money when you're spending your money on a bunch of bills?"

Gabriella smiled. "Well…looking over the next few months, I don't predict having the opportunity to save much money with having to pay for bills and buy things for the baby."

"Then what's the point of this? Why don't you just live here until the baby gets here? It provides us both with the chance to save up more money and I know my parents don't mind. They're not asking either of us to move out."

Gabriella nodded and sighed. "I know. I was actually talking to your mom about this earlier. Troy, you may not understand this, but as a mother-to-be I feel the need to have a place prepared for our baby. And not just any place. I need a place where I can start putting together a nursery, a place that the baby can settle into when she's born. I don't want to have to worry about moving out of here when our baby is born and be moving her all over. I want her to be able to come home from the hospital to a place where she will always feel safe and secure."

Troy smiled. "You're completely right. I'm sorry. I understand, but I didn't think about anything like that. And honestly, hearing you talk about that and be so passionate about making a home for our baby makes me love you even more than I thought possible. But even with me living here, I want you to promise me something."

"What?" Gabriella asked quietly.

"I want you to promise that I'm still going to be involved in every little thing with this pregnancy, including helping you set up a home for our baby."

Gabriella tilted her head and looked at Troy with compassion, feeling bad that he was thinking he'd be left out of everything now. "I promise. I wouldn't want it any other way."

The next day while Troy went to work, Gabriella went to sign her lease. Her new landlord handed her keys to her new apartment and told her she'd be able to move in as soon as she'd like to. When she got back to the Bolton's, she told Jack and Lucille the great news and started packing. She wasn't excited to move away from the Boltons, just excited to have her own place once again. She knew she had a lot of work cut out for her over the weekend before she would return to the school Monday morning to substitute again, but she also knew she needed to take advantage of the time she was being given to get things done.

Later in the afternoon as she was loading up her car with some lighter-weight boxes, Jack pulled up in the driveway next to her.

He got out of his truck with a smile on his face. "Your bed is in your room at your apartment. Lucille is stocking your refrigerator. We'll get the rest of your furniture moved in tomorrow when Troy is off of work and able to help me out."

Gabriella teared up. "Jack, you guys didn't have to do that."

Jack walked over and hugged Gabriella. "We'd do it for either of our other two children as well."

Gabriella squeezed Jack. "Thank you so much. You guys have no idea how much your help means to me." She looked inside her car. "I think I have everything. And don't worry, I didn't carry too much. I made sure you carried all the heavy stuff and I finished loading the lighter stuff."

Jack smiled and nodded. "Alright. Let's hop in and get this stuff moved in."

Gabriella nodded but released a sigh that let Jack know something was wrong. "What's wrong? I thought you were happy to be moving into your new apartment."

"I am," Gabriella quickly assured. "I just have a feeling Troy is going to be disappointed he missed out on this. I know he's going to be upset when he gets home and finds all my stuff gone."

Jack looked at his watch. "He should be getting off of work in about 15 minutes. I'll call him then and let him know we're at your apartment. He can meet us there."

Gabriella nodded and they got in the car to head to her new apartment, the goal in mind of starting a new chapter.

**Leave a review! Thanks to all of you who have been giving me feedback. I really appreciate it!**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 8

Jack and Gabriella had both been trying to contact Troy, but had been unable to reach him. Maybe he was working late? Gabriella decided to wait a little longer and try calling again.

"If he doesn't answer soon, I'll drive over to the house and see if he's there…make sure he's okay," Jack said. Gabriella nodded, slightly concerned about Troy, wondering where he could be.

Troy drove home from work. He'd forgotten his phone at home and just hoped that no one had tried to contact him. When he pulled in at home, he noticed that Gabriella's car and his dad's truck were both gone. His mom's car was home, though. He frowned, trying to figure out where Gabriella would have gone. Maybe she was at her brother's?

Troy went inside, expecting to find his mom. "Mom? I'm home." He paused before he went upstairs, waiting for a reply, but not receiving one. "Mom? You here?" he hollered again. Still no response.

He continued upstairs to the room he shared with Gabriella, walking over to where he had left his phone that morning. He picked it up and decided to call Gabriella first. As he placed the phone to his ear, he turned around towards the rest of the room and looked up for the first time. It was then he noticed the small touches in the room were gone that showed Gabriella had shared this room with him. He felt his chest constrict. Where had she gone? Had she left him?

Gabriella's phone rang four times before it switched to voicemail. Troy began panicking. He had talked to her that morning and felt that everything was okay between them. Troy didn't leave a message, but decided to try calling his parents. He called his dad.

"Hello?" Jack answered.

"Dad…" Troy said. "Have you seen Gabriella? Her stuff was gone when I got home and she's not answering her phone."

Jack could hear the panic in his son's voice. "Troy…calm down. Gabriella is right here. If you had answered your own phone earlier, you would have known not to go home after work, but to come to her apartment instead."

Troy frowned. "Wait…you already moved her in?"

"Yes, we moved her in this afternoon after your mom helped her clean the apartment. Why don't you come over and have dinner with us, then your mom and I will give you two some time to talk?"

Troy agreed and followed his dad's directions and drove to Gabriella's apartment. As he drove, he couldn't help but think about the fact that he wouldn't be sharing a bed with Gabriella that night. He wouldn't get to come home to her every night. In a way he felt like he was losing her slowly. But he knew he couldn't push her into something that she wasn't ready for, and right now she wasn't ready because she had certain things she felt she had to do for herself.

Troy pulled into the parking lot and found her apartment. He hadn't thought he would have to do this so soon. He knew it would probably be within the next few days, but he didn't think she would move in the same day she signed her lease. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

Gabriella opened the door looking flushed, but smiled when she saw him. She jumped into his arms and kissed him before pulling back and dragging him inside.

"Welcome to my new place," she said as she turned to smile at him.

Troy could see the happiness bubbling out of her as he looked at her before looking around. He could tell that Gabriella and his parents had all been hard at work that day trying to get things set up. There were several boxes sitting around the room.

"It looks nice," he said quietly.

Gabriella ignored the lack of enthusiasm that his voice held. "Well, it's not much and I still don't have all my stuff. Your dad said he would go to my parent's tomorrow to finish getting all my stuff that has been stored away. He wanted to wait until he had some help," she said, winking at Troy.

Troy smiled softly at her. "You're not overworking yourself are you? Not carrying too much?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No. Your dad has been great today, insisting on carrying everything. I'm sure he's exhausted. But we wanted you to come here so that, not only could you see my new place, but we're also going to order some pizza and share the experience of the first meal here together. But first, before the pizza arrives, I want you to see something."

Gabriella led Troy by the hand down the hallway to one of the three doors to choose from. She slowly opened it and showed Troy a still-empty room.

"Is this…"

Gabriella nodded and placed her free hand on her belly. "This will be our baby's room."

Troy smiled, imagining the room decorated as a nursery. "I can't wait to see it all set up." He pulled Gabriella to him and kissed her before they walked back to the kitchen and finished helping Lucille put away the few boxes of dishes that Gabriella had with her.

Later that evening, after Troy's parent's had left, Troy was sitting on Gabriella's bed as Gabriella finished hanging up her clothes. "You've been awfully quiet this evening," he heard her say.

Troy looked up at her and gave her a wistful smile. "I'm sorry."

Gabriella frowned and hung up her shirt before going to sit beside Troy. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

Troy let out a sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair and looked at Gabriella. "Well if I'm being honest here, it's been hard today watching you get so excited about being here." He paused when Gabriella smiled. "Don't get me wrong, Brie…I love seeing you so happy and I know this is something you need to do for yourself. But I guess it's just me being selfish. I don't like the fact that I won't get to come home to you every day. And I won't get to go to sleep or wake up to your beautiful face." Troy dropped his voice and spoke quietly. "I just almost feel as if I'm losing you."

Gabriella teared up hearing how Troy felt. She scooted up to him and pushed him back so he was leaning up against her pillows before sitting in his lap. "Troy," she said quietly, trying to control her emotions. "You're not losing me, babe. I'm right here. I'll always be here and you're always welcome here. I don't think you're being selfish at all. I'm going to miss those things, too. I think one of the biggest adjustments I'm going to have is coming home to an empty apartment after being used to coming home to a family before. But like you said, this is something that I need to do for me…something I need to do for our baby. I know I've made the right decision, but please know it has nothing to do with trying to distance myself from you or anything like that. I still want to see you all the time, as much as possible." Gabriella climbed off his lap and walked over to her purse, pulling a key ring out. She walked back to Troy and climbed back into his lap, handing him the key ring. "This is yours. It's a key to the apartment. I want you to know that you're welcome here at any point, whether I'm here or not."

Troy nodded as he took the key ring. "Thank you, baby. I love you."

"I love you, too."

Troy leaned in to kiss Gabriella, pushing her back on the bed without breaking the kiss. Troy laid to the side of Gabriella, careful of her growing belly. The kisses became more heated, more passionate.

"Troy…" Gabriella whispered as she pulled back slightly.

Troy moved his kisses down her jaw to her ear and down her neck before he finally pulled back to look at Gabriella. He hooked a strand of hair behind her ear.

"How am I supposed to leave you tonight?" he asked quietly as he regulated his breathing.

Gabriella lay there trying to slow her breathing as well. "I know…but this was the agreement. We agreed we would take things slow."

Troy nodded, still unhappy with the situation, but completely understanding. "So how early can I come see you in the morning?"

Gabriella looked up at him and smiled. "Well I would say sunup. But we both know that I need rest so I can take care of this little one," she said, placing her hand on her belly. "And we also know that you usually don't get out of bed before ten. So as long as you're here by lunch, that should give us plenty of time to get the rest of my stuff and get it moved in here. If we don't get too much put away, it will be fine. I can do that slowly throughout the week. I just need you men to move my furniture in for me." She smiled at him.

Troy laughed. "We'll definitely get it done. And my mom will be here to help you put away things. Then after we get done moving the furniture in, I'll help you put away whatever you need me to. I'll drive separately so that I can stay later tomorrow night after my parents go home and we can have some time to ourselves."

"That sounds wonderful." Gabriella looked at the clock. "As bad as I hate to say this…it's getting late and if we're going to be productive at all tomorrow, we need to get some rest. You better go."

The disappointed feeling that Troy had been feeling for the past couple of days came back to hit him again. He nodded his head, knowing she was right. "Okay, I'll see you in the morning, though. And it will be before noon," he smiled. "You can't get rid of me that easily. You do realize that I'll be here all the time now, right?"

Gabriella giggled. "I'm sure you will."

Troy smiled and climbed off the bed, pulling Gabriella with him. He walked to the front door, never letting go of her hand. When he reached the door, he grabbed his jacket that was tossed over a box there and slipped it on. He stepped closer to Gabriella and grabbed her hands once again. "I'll miss you tonight. I'll be thinking of you as I go to sleep."

"Troy…I'm not that far away and I'll see you in the morning. You act like we're not going to be seeing each other for a while."

Troy gave her a wistful smile. "It kinda feels like that. But I'll see you in the morning." He leaned in to give her a gentle kiss. "I love you. Goodnight."

"I love you, too. Goodnight," she replied as he stepped out the door. She watched him go then shut and locked the door.

As she lay in her bed a little while later, she had difficulty going to sleep. Just like a couple nights ago, she found that without Troy there to snuggle with and find comfort in, she had a hard time relaxing enough to fall asleep. She thought about calling him, but figured he'd probably already be in bed and asleep. She lay there for a while longer before exhaustion finally enveloped her.

Mid-morning on Sunday, Troy arrived at Gabriella's apartment. His parents had left the house earlier that morning saying they had errands to run before they would be at Gabriella's to help out, so they would meet him there later. He decided to use his key for the first time and surprise Gabriella, knowing she probably wouldn't be expecting him this early.

When he walked in, Troy found the apartment to be completely silent. He'd seen her car in the parking lot, so he knew she was there. He figured she must be asleep still, but became concerned because he knew she never slept late. He walked into her bedroom and found her still in bed, deep in slumber. He took off his shoes and crawled in beside her, enveloping her in an embrace.

He'd missed doing that last night and it had caused him to have a difficult time sleeping. It had taken him a while to finally fall asleep. He'd contemplated calling Gabriella, but didn't want to seem too desperate for her presence, even if it was just hearing her voice. Even though she had tried to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere, he could help but still feel she was slipping through his fingers. And now he was afraid that if he contacted her too much or was at her apartment to much, she'd feel like he was being pushy and would want even more space…eventually asking him to keep his distance altogether. With all these conflicting thoughts going through his head, Troy had finally slipped into a restless sleep.

Gabriella stirred in her sleep as she felt the bed shift. She snuggled into Troy's embrace, sharing her warmth with him as she found that he was cold. She opened her eyes to find him staring at her. That was when she realized that he hadn't been there when she fell asleep.

"You're cold," she said quietly. Troy smiled and nodded. "What time is it?" she asked, worried she'd slept really late.

Troy heard the panic in her voice and began rubbing her back. "Don't worry. It's not that late in the day. It's only 9:00."

Gabriella settled back down. "Are your parents here?"

Troy shook his head. "No, they're out running some errands. They'll be here later. Are you feeling alright? It's not like you to sleep this long."

"Yeah, I didn't sleep very well last night…you know…new place, different bed than what I've gotten used to. Plus I think I was just exhausted from yesterday."

Troy nodded. "You need to take it easy. I don't want you getting sick or having any problems because you're working too hard. Just take it slow today, okay? Let my parents and I do a majority of the work."

Gabriella nodded. "Okay. I promise to take it easy today. But I refuse to make you do everything. I will help…I'll just make sure to do the easier stuff."

"That's all I ask."

Gabriella got up and got ready for the day. While she was getting ready, Troy found a few things he could do for Gabriella to pass the time. He took the empty boxes from the day before to the dumpster so they'd be out of the way. He went through a couple of boxes that hadn't been opened and tried to find a place for the items in the boxes. When he was done, he fixed Gabriella some breakfast using a few of the groceries Lucille had bought for her yesterday. By the time Gabriella finished her breakfast, Jack and Lucille were knocking on the door.

Troy went over and answered the door. "Come on in, guys."

Lucille walked in and Jack stopped just inside the door. "Troy, I need your help unloading the truck. Can you come with me?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah. I thought I was going with you to get Gabriella's stuff, though."

Jack smiled. "You are. This is some other stuff we need to unload."

Troy frowned but agreed nonetheless. "Okay."

Troy was shocked by what was in the truck, but helped unload it, knowing Gabriella would be happy and surprised as well. When they brought the first load inside, Gabriella looked at the box and teared up.

"You guys…did you seriously buy that?" she asked.

Jack and Lucille both nodded. Lucille walked over to Gabriella and put her arm around her. "We know that with you paying bills now, your funds are going to be limited and we want to help out as much as possible. If we're overstepping our bounds, tell us now and we can take this back."

Gabriella shook her head vigorously. "No, I'm just surprised is all."

Jack and Troy continued down the hallway to the nursery to place the box in there against the wall. Troy would work on putting that together later.

Lucille continued to talk to Gabriella. "That was the crib you had showed me one day. I knew it was the one you and Troy both agreed on and we wanted to help you get the nursery set up. We have the nursery furniture in the truck that the guys will bring in, but we'll let you and Troy decide on everything else. But if you need something, just let us know. Don't ever be afraid to ask, okay?"

Gabriella nodded, tears cascading down her face. "Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me to know that I have such a wonderful family supporting me."

Lucille was touched by that comment. "We'll always be your family," she said. "We love you, Gabi. You're our daughter."

**I loved writing this chapter. A few ups and downs…but a happy ending. Leave me a review and let me know what you think! Let me know where you'd like to see this story go. I'm having trouble with coming up with a good ending to the story. I've got about four more chapters planned for this story.**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 9

Gabriella and the Boltons moved in the rest of Gabriella's things on Sunday before Jack and Lucille headed home, leaving Troy and Gabriella to continue unloading boxes. That evening, they stopped unpacking the boxes to go check out the nursery. Troy put together the crib and they decided where they wanted the furniture to sit. They had a matching crib, chest of drawers, and changing table. Gabriella was excited to see something in the room she'd been dreaming of designing for a few months now.

Throughout the rest of the week, Gabriella slowly unloaded boxes, taking Troy's advice to take it slow and not overwork herself. She usually was at the school all day subbing for someone, then would come home and relax for a while before spending some time unpacking. Most nights, Troy was at the apartment spending time with her or helping her unpack. Towards the end of the week, though, Gabriella had forced him to stay home and get caught up on the homework he'd been neglecting while he was with her.

By the end of the week, Gabriella was exhausted and ready for the weekend. She hadn't seen Troy in a couple of days because he was trying to get caught up on projects he had due. She was missing him terribly and hadn't been sleeping well. So on Friday night as she lay in bed, she began to cry. She knew part of it was due to her hormones from being pregnant. She found herself crying over hardly anything. But she also knew that this time, she did have a reason to cry. She missed the man she loved and wished he was there with her.

She looked at the clock. It was nearing midnight and she knew he had to be up the next morning for work. At one time, he'd been off on Saturdays and they had been able to spend them together. But since he found out about the baby, he'd been working them and taking on more hours to save up more money. But despite the fact that she knew he'd be asleep, she knew she needed to call him and hear his voice or she wouldn't ever get to sleep.

She heard the phone ring three times before he picked up and answered with a very groggy voice, signaling he'd been asleep for a while. "Hello?"

Gabriella automatically felt guilty. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have called."

"No…it's ok," he said quickly, sounding more awake. "What's wrong, baby? You ok? Is the baby ok?"

"Yeah, the baby is ok," she responded.

"What about you, though? Something's wrong or you wouldn't have called me this late."

Gabriella sat looking at her lap for a moment before answering, her emotions building up once again as she fought back a sob. "I'm ok," she said tearfully.

Troy heard her tears and wished he was there. "No, you're not. What's wrong?"

Gabriella took a deep breath, trying to control her emotions, before speaking again. "I miss you."

Troy let out a sigh. "Oh, baby, I miss you too. But I promise I'm all yours tomorrow night."

Gabriella continued to release her tears silently, clutching the phone tightly, wishing it was Troy. "I hate this, Troy," she said.

"What do you hate, Brie?" he asked quietly.

"I hate not seeing you every day. As of tomorrow it will have been three days since I saw you last. I know you're working and you have school. And I know that those things need to come first, but I miss you."

Troy let out another sigh knowing exactly how she was feeling. He'd been feeling it to. He had stopped himself on a few occasions from going to see her, knowing he needed to be spending that time working on homework rather than neglecting it and risking falling behind. He knew she definitely wouldn't be happy with him then.

"I'm on my way, Brie. I'll be there soon."

Gabriella was surprised. "No, Troy. I'll let you go. You need to sleep. I'm sorry for bothering you. I know you have to be up early to go to work tomorrow. I just needed to hear your voice."

Troy smiled as he crawled out of bed. "Brie, you're not bothering me. You can call me any time, day or night. Now…give me 15 minutes and I'll be there. Just stay in bed and I'll let myself in. And don't argue with me."

Gabriella giggled. "Okay."

The two hung up, and true to his word, Troy showed up 15 minutes later. He let himself in before making his way to Gabriella's room. He stripped down to his boxers and crawled in next to her, wrapping her in an embrace.

"I can't believe you came. You're going to be so tired tomorrow."

"No, I'm not. I'll be fine. Now, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. Let's get some sleep. I brought my clothes for work. I'll get ready for work here in the morning."

Gabriella nodded against Troy and soon slipped into a much needed sleep. Troy did the same, both of them falling asleep with smiles on their faces.

The next morning, Troy awoke to find Gabriella still asleep against him. He extracted himself carefully from the bed so he could get ready for work. While he was in the shower, Gabriella awoke, feeling much more refreshed than she had all week. As Troy continued to get ready for work, she laid there silently in bed thinking about how good it had felt to be back with Troy in the same bed. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed it.

When Troy came back into the room before leaving for work, he walked to the bed and sat down, leaning over to kiss Gabriella softly.

"I have to work all day, but we still have plans for dinner, right?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, I'm fixing you dinner here."

"Okay." He looked at the clock and sighed. "I guess I need to go…"

"I want you to move in here," Gabriella suddenly blurted out.

Troy sat there shocked. "Brie, we've talked about this. We agreed to take it slow."

Gabriella sat up in bed and ran her fingers through her hair, taking a deep breath. "I know. I just miss you so much and I hate not seeing you all the time. I guess I didn't realize just how much until last night."

Troy gave Gabriella a wistful smile. "Why don't we talk about this tonight? That will give you all day to really think about it. Then tonight you can tell me what you really think, because I have a feeling after you've thought it through, you'll change your mind."

Gabriella didn't agree that she would change her mind, but agreed to think about it and wait until he got off of work to talk about it. She knew they needed time to discuss it, and time wasn't something they had at the moment. "Okay."

Troy nodded. "Okay. Have a good day, baby, and I'll see you tonight as soon as I can get here after work."

"I'll be waiting," Gabriella said as Troy walked out the bedroom door. She heard the front door shut moments later.

Gabriella slid back down in the bed and thought about what she had said to Troy, knowing it wasn't a spur of the moment comment like he thought it was. It was a thought she'd had on her mind on a few occasions all week, but until this morning, she'd never thought about it seriously. She knew she missed him and she loved being with him. But she was beginning to find things she hated about their current living conditions. First, she hated the days when she knew she wouldn't get to see him. She also hated the days when she didn't get to see him for very long. And then there were the times when she made him stay home when he'd rather be here because being away from his home meant he was neglecting his homework.

When they had lived together with his parents, his homework had never been an issue. They'd always still been able to spend time together while he was working on it. Most of the time, she would curl up next to him on the couch or in bed with a book while he studied or worked on an assignment; or they would watch a movie while he worked on an assignment. Now he used being with her at her apartment as a means of postponing it because he always "forgot" to bring it with him.

But if they were to live together in the apartment, he would always have his homework with him and would be able to get it done while still spending time with her. They wouldn't have to worry about not seeing each other during the week. And neither would have to worry about sleepless nights, unless Gabriella couldn't sleep due to the baby, which was happening more and more as the baby became more mobile inside her.

Throughout the rest of the day, Gabriella kept making a pro/con list in her head of why Troy should or should not move in. But the more she thought about it, the more pros there were. She just hoped Troy would agree.

Later that evening as they were watching a movie after dinner, Gabriella decided to bring up the subject of him moving in with her. She'd wanted to bring it up earlier, but had decided to wait until they were more comfortable and better able to talk.

"Troy?" she said quietly.

"Hmm?" Troy mumbled next to her. He looked down at her, placing his focus on her.

"About that conversation from this morning…"

Troy smiled softly at her. "It's okay, Brie. I know it was just a spur of the moment thing. That's why I told you to wait until tonight. I know now is not the time for us to move in together. We'll take things slow for a while, then discuss it again later when we both feel we're ready for that step."

Troy had hated saying that. All he wanted to do was convince Gabriella that moving in together was the best option, but he knew that would be pushing and he didn't want to rush her. He was still afraid of pushing her away. When she had called him the night before, he was actually relieved. He knew she still needed him at some level. But when she called him in the middle of the night just because she needed to hear his voice, it gave him a sense of pride that he really was still needed in her life.

Gabriella felt dejected. She imagined this was how Troy felt when she had told him she wanted to slow things down and not move in or get engaged just yet. She looked down at her lap and fumbled with her hands. "But I am ready," she whispered, hoping Troy hadn't heard her.

But he had. "What?"

Gabriella looked up at him. "I am ready," she spoke quietly. "I want to live with you. I've thought about it all day. Actually I've been thinking about it all week. I hate this living arrangement. I mean, I love living here and having my own place, but I hate being away from you."

"Brie…" Troy trailed off. He knew he felt the same way, but he needed to be sure that if they did this, it wouldn't be a decision they regretted later. "Brie, are you sure? I mean…it's only been a week since you moved out. Are you sure that's what you want or are you just missing having someone with you?"

Gabriella shook her head. "This is what I want. I mean…yes, I get lonely here by myself, but I've been thinking about all the negatives and positives of it and honestly I don't know why I didn't think about them before. I love this time that we get to spend together. I've hated not seeing you very much this week, and I've really hated not falling asleep in your arms. Last night was amazing. I hated calling you so late but that was the best night of sleep I'd had all week."

Troy let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. "You have no idea how happy that makes me feel to hear you say that. I feel the same way." He leaned in to kiss Gabriella softly.

Gabriella pulled back slowly and looked up at Troy. "But it's more than just that. I want you here because over the next few months I'm going to need you as I get closer to my due date. I want you here so we can prepare this home for our baby. And I want you here when it's time for me to deliver. I'm so scared of you not being around when it happens, Troy."

Troy heard Gabriella's voice shake as her emotions began to get to her. "Baby, I'm going to be right here. I don't want you to be alone either, so I'll do anything in my power to make sure I'm here. And I'll be sure to keep my phone on at all times when I'm at work, just in case."

Gabriella nodded her head. "Most of all, though, I want you here all the time when the baby is born. I want you involved in every moment of her life. I don't want you living somewhere else as if we're not together anymore. It's not fair to any of us."

Troy smiled. "I want all of that, too. All I'm hearing are positives, though. What are these negatives that you were talking about? Because, honestly, I can't think of any."

Gabriella grinned at Troy, feeling much more relieved now. "Well, really all I could come up with was the financial part of it. We'd be spending more with both of us living here."

"Not that much more, though. Because if you think about it, you and I are here every evening anyway. Plus, with me living here, we'd have two incomes to work with, rather than just yours."

Gabriella thought about it for a moment and nodded. "You're right. So does this mean you're moving in with me?"

Troy grinned. "You bet it does!"

Gabriella giggled. "When do you want to move in?"

"Is tomorrow too soon?"

**Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

**Chapter 10**

Troy quickly settled into the apartment. The couple celebrated Christmas together, decorating the apartment together with their first tree and simple decorations. They finished decorating the nursery together, getting it all ready for the baby.

On March 10th, Gabriella gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, who the couple decided to name Brenley Ann Bolton. She couldn't have been more perfect. Troy and Gabriella felt a swell of pride in them as they looked at her for the first time. They knew they were excited to be parents, especially together, but they didn't realize just how much it would mean to them to see her for the first time.

Troy finished up his semester of college on a high note. Throughout the semester, he'd had some rough times. He'd been constantly worried about Gabriella during the last couple months of her pregnancy and wanted to be with her constantly, though he knew that wasn't possible. As she neared her due date, he'd been more and more distracted. But Gabriella had been very good for him. She'd constantly kept him on track, making sure he got his homework done. She constantly used the threat that if he didn't concentrate on his homework there at home, she'd make him go stay at his parent's house until he got it done. And that wasn't something he wanted, because he didn't want to be away from her.

Gabriella had been applying for jobs at the local high schools so she could start up her actual teaching career the following fall. Being a substitute teacher all year had helped her develop a good reputation there in the schools and she was able to quickly secure a position teaching science. She'd been talking to Lucille about getting a summer job, trying to decide what she should do for just a few months. She knew the income would be needed in order to pay the bills. But Lucille had already talked to Jack and they insisted she take a break for the summer. Jack and Lucille had been helping them out financially after Gabriella had Brenley since Gabriella's income had been taken away since she couldn't work. So the Bolton's insisted they continue to help the couple out until Gabriella was able to start teaching in August.

Troy and Gabriella had felt bad for the amount of help his parents were providing, but Jack and Lucille quickly assured the couple they loved being able to help out as much as possible. They thought it was important for Gabriella to use the time she had now to bond with her daughter before she would start working all day again.

One day towards the end of the summer, before Gabriella had to start at the school, Lucille decided to take Gabriella and Brenley out for a girl's day while both the men were at work. They were at the mall looking around and doing some shopping when Gabriella looked up and spotted her parents walking towards them. Gabriella's mom, Maria, was excited to see them and came rushing towards them, sweeping Gabriella into a hug. Gabriella's dad, Stephen, wasn't as sure and hung back from the women with apprehension etched in his features.

Gabriella had been meeting up with her mom still on a regular basis so she could get to know Brenley. She'd enjoyed the time she spent with her mom, but she still wasn't accepted back in her parent's home. Her dad still didn't want anything to do with her. It hurt her to see how badly their relationship had suffered and she wanted desperately to fix it.

She decided to take a chance. Gabriella stepped away from Lucille and Maria and approached her father. "Hi, Dad."

"Gabriella."

She let out a sigh knowing this wasn't going to be easy. But she knew if she didn't try, she'd regret it. "Daddy, I miss you. I miss all the time we used to spend together just talking and hanging out." Gabriella hadn't held a conversation with her dad since he found out she was pregnant, which was almost a year ago.

Hearing Gabriella call him "daddy" softened Stephen's heart a little as he looked at her. He missed his daughter much more than he would ever admit. He looked at her eyes. She wasn't his little girl anymore. She was a woman who was probably going to get married to the man she was with someday and who had a daughter, his granddaughter.

Gabriella saw him cave in as he shuffled closer to her. "I miss you too, Ella." "Ella" was the name her dad had given to her as a little girl. He was the only one who she allowed to call her by that name. Gabriella closed the space between the two of them and hugged him. She felt him squeeze back. "I'm so sorry, Sweetie. I've been awful to you. I should have been there for you. We've missed out on so much."

Gabriella had tears come to her eyes. "It's okay, Daddy. I'm just glad to see you right now. I love you."

"I love you, too, Ella." Stephen pulled out of the hug and looked at his grown-up daughter again.

"Do you…maybe…want to meet your granddaughter?" Gabriella asked hesitantly. She had just gotten her dad back into her life and didn't want to push anything too hard just yet. But the smile on Stephen's face reassured her it was the right thing to ask.

"Absolutely," he said quietly.

They walked the few steps back over to where Lucille and Maria were standing talking to one another next to the stroller. Gabriella reached down and unstrapped the buckles from the seat so she could pull Brenley out. She handed Brenley to her father.

"Daddy, meet your granddaughter, Brenley Ann Bolton."

Stephen had a look of pride flash across his face. "She's beautiful, Sweetie. She looks just like you did at this age."

Gabriella couldn't have been happier seeing her father look so happy as he held his granddaughter for the first time. Knowing that her father was finally coming to terms with how she was living her life made her so much happier. She always wanted her dad to be involved in every step of her life, especially when it came to having children, and some day getting married.

"So where's your future husband at today?"

Gabriella looked up and saw the teasing glint in her father's eye and smiled. "He's at work. Lucille decided we needed a girl's day while the guys are at work since I've had so much going on lately and we know it's not going to slow down any time soon. I've been trying to get prepared to start teaching again. And I've been trying to spend as much time with Brenley as possible before I have to start at the school. Plus, Troy and I are living in an apartment together now. We've been living there since Thanksgiving. You guys will have to come over some time and see it. Troy and I are very proud of our first place together. It's not much, but we like having our own space, a space we can call home for our little family."

Gabriella smiled at her parents before looking at Brenley and taking pride in the fact that she felt blessed to have a family. For so many months, she felt like she didn't have many people to call her family. Slowly her family members began to support her once again, and now she was glad she had both her parents supporting her. But ultimately, she felt blessed to know that she would always have Brenley and Troy as her family, no matter where she went.

"So when can I expect a wedding?"

Gabriella looked at her dad to see him smirking again. She smiled. "I'm not sure, to be honest. Troy proposed once, but I turned him down. I felt like we had too much to worry about at that point without throwing marriage into the mix. But it's definitely in the plans for the future."

Stephen nodded and smiled. "Promise you'll let me know when it happens? I promise I won't be upset this time," he said quietly.

Gabriella gave him a wistful smile. "I promise."

Lucille and Gabriella spent some time with Gabriella's parents before continuing with their day and eventually heading home. Brenley had slept most of the day, but Gabriella was glad her parents got to spend some time with her.

After Gabriella got home, she put away the few things that had been bought that day, and then began fixing dinner. She knew Troy would be exhausted and hungry when he got home. Just as Gabriella was putting the finishing touches on dinner, she heard Troy's key in the door and the door opened.

"Hey, baby. I'm home!"

Gabriella smiled. It still made her happy when he said that, even after all this time. She loved having a place to call home with Troy. A home for their family.

"In the kitchen," she called back.

A few moments later, she felt two arms circle around her waist as she stood at the stove stirring their dinner. She felt his soft lips press against her neck.

"I missed you today."

"I missed you, too," she said. She turned off the stove and turned around in his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck as she leaned up for a kiss. When she pulled away, she stood there smiling at him. It had been a great day for her and she couldn't have been happier at that moment.

"What's with the big smile? Not that I'm not glad to see you so happy, but surely me being home didn't put that smile on your face."

Gabriella shook her head, smile still intact. "You coming home always puts a smile on my face. But you're right…today I have a lot to smile about."

Troy shook his head in confusion. "What happened today?"

Gabriella took a deep breath. "Well today your mom took us to the mall." Troy nodded, signaling her to continue. "We ran into my parents."

"Both of them?" Troy asked, shocked. Gabriella nodded. "How did that go?"

"It was awkward at first, obviously. I mean, my mom was excited to see us and to see Brenley again, but my dad was very wary of approaching us. But I approached him and he just caved, thankfully. He even held Brenley for a while. You should have seen the look on his face. He was so proud to be holding her, Troy. It was all I could do to keep from crying just seeing her finally being held by him. I honestly never thought this day would come."

Troy pulled her in and embraced her. "That's awesome, baby. I'm so glad that things are okay between you now. I know it's been eating you up inside even though you don't talk about it."

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah, it's been weird not being able to spend time with him. I went from spending every day for a year with him to not seeing him once in a year. I'm just glad that he finally came around. It's always been my dream of having him involved in my children's lives since he wasn't around much when I was little to be involved in mine."

Troy looked down at Gabriella in his embrace and smiled at her. "It looks like things are finally looking up, baby."

Gabriella nodded. "He just had one request today."

"What's that?"

"He wants to make sure he finds out when we get married. He promised he wouldn't be upset. He kept teasing me about you, asking me about my "future husband"."

Troy smiled. Knowing her dad supported them in that aspect filled him with joy and relief. "Well if I have it my way, he'll know even before you do."

Gabriella let out a sigh. "You don't know how happy that makes me."

**Please review! Only a couple chapters left!**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Chapter 11

Troy stood at the front door of the Montez home waiting for Stephen Montez to answer the door. Troy had been debating for the past month about when he wanted to propose to Gabriella again. It had come up in conversation a few times and he had begun seriously thinking about it once again. It had been almost a year since he had proposed the first time and was turned down. But now, he knew the relationship he had with Gabriella was a lot stronger and he felt they were much more ready to take that next step. He was nervous though. He was getting ready to ask Stephen's permission to marry Gabriella. He felt he knew what Stephen would say, but it still didn't make the task any easier.

Troy was shaken from his thoughts as he heard the doorknob rattle and the door open. Stephen had a grin on his face when he saw Troy.

"Hi, Troy. Come on in." Troy smiled back as he stepped inside. "What can I do for you?"

Troy walked to the couch where he sat down as Stephen sat down in his chair. "Well I might as well get to the point," Troy laughed nervously. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Stephen, I wanted to ask your permission to marry your daughter."

Stephen smiled as he nodded. "I thought that was probably why you were here." Troy glanced at him nervously, still waiting for an answer. Stephen chuckled. "Troy, you definitely have my permission to marry Ella. Maria and I give you our whole-hearted blessing."

Troy let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and smiled. "Thanks, Stephen. That takes some of the nerves away."

Stephen laughed. "Nervous about asking her?" Troy nodded. "I don't think you have anything to worry about. Ella loves you. I've never seen her so happy."

"She may be happy, but is she actually ready to marry me? We've talked about it a few times recently, but nothing too serious. We haven't set any timelines of when we want to get married, or anything like that. She hasn't said anything. So I don't know if she feels ready or not. I know how I feel, but I'm nervous about what she's feeling."

"You're ready to get married?" Stephen asked.

Troy thought about it for a moment. "I want to marry Brie. I don't think I'm ready to marry her tomorrow, but I'm ready to make this commitment to her. I want to start planning to marry her. Maybe we could plan for a wedding next summer. I don't want to rush her into anything. I know she's had a lot on her plate still with starting her new job, plus both of us still adjusting to Brenley's different growth stages. Things are constantly changing at home as Brenley grows up and as Brie and I deal with whatever our jobs or school brings us. But I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. So if we're constantly waiting on that to change for us before we take another step in our relationship, we're going to be waiting forever."

Stephen nodded. "You've really thought about this haven't you?" Stephen was impressed by Troy. When Troy had first shown interest in Gabriella, Stephen wasn't too sure about their relationship. He had always seen Gabriella as someone who acted much older than she really was. Even when she was in high school, she seemed so mature for her age. So to see her go for a much younger man had been hard. Stephen had his concerns that their age difference would eventually cause a huge barrier to form between the two, but their age difference had caused very few problems for them. They had dealt with everything that life had thrown at them much better than Stephen could have ever imagined. He was proud to know that one day he would be calling Troy his son-in-law.

Troy nodded in response to Stephen's question. "I have. I've been thinking about this a lot. I'm nervous that if I ask Brie, it might be too soon and she'll turn me down again. I've dealt with that once. I'm not sure how I could handle it again."

Stephen looked at Troy with compassion. "You can't give up, son."

"I know," Troy agreed. "I don't plan to. I want you to know that no matter what happens when I ask her, I don't plan on going anywhere. Even if it means just staying together committed the way we already are. I'm going to be here every step of the way. I love your daughter and I love your granddaughter as well. I'm not going anywhere. I plan to be in their lives forever, in whatever way Brie feels is best for us."

Stephen took a deep breath. "You're a good young man, Troy. I couldn't have asked for a better man for my daughter. You're a lot stronger than most men would be in this case. Most would just say it's all or nothing."

Troy shook his head. "I can't do that. I guess you could say it's more of a selfish thing. I would rather be with her as just her boyfriend, than to lose her altogether."

Troy and Stephen talked for a while longer before he left. He had a plan in his mind. He just hoped it would work.

A few weeks later, Troy, Gabriella, and Brenley had been sitting together in the living room enjoying some family time. Brenley had finally fallen asleep on Gabriella's lap, so Gabriella got up to take her to bed. While Gabriella was out of the room, Troy quickly lit a few candles and turned off the lights, creating a more romantic atmosphere. When Gabriella came back, she let out a soft gasp, seeing what Troy had done with the room. Troy was standing in the middle of the room just looking at Gabriella as she stood still in the doorway.

"What's all this for?" she asked quietly.

Troy walked over to Gabriella and took her hands in his as he backed up and pulled her into the room. "This is for us. We haven't had much "us" time lately and I wanted to take an opportunity to show you how much I love you."

Gabriella smiled at Troy as she felt her eyes get watery. "I know you love me, Troy. I love you, too. You don't have to do romantic gestures or anything to get me to see that."

Troy smiled. "Maybe I don't have to, but I want to." Troy paused, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Especially tonight...right now." Troy kept his hold on Gabriella's hands as he knelt down in front of her. "Brie, we've known each other for a long time now. I never in a million years dreamed we would get to this point. You were always a great friend to me…and then one day it turned into much more. I fell in love with you. And over the past year, I've fallen even more in love with you. Just when I thought I couldn't get happier with how things were going for us, something happened and you made me so much happier than I ever dreamed. We had a rough patch for a while, but I was still in love with you. But then you told me you were pregnant. And after that we were great and in love and so happy. And things were great for a while. Then you asked me to move in with you and I became even happier. Now the only thing that could make me the happiest is if you agree to become my wife. I'm not saying I'm unhappy with where we are right now. I just want you to make all my dreams come true by saying you'll spend the rest of your life with me." Troy looked up hopefully at Gabriella as he pulled the ring box out of his pocked and held it up, opened, in front of her.

Gabriella stood there with tears running down her face. "Troy, you didn't have to propose to ensure I'll spend the rest of my life with you. That's what I want, too."

Troy frowned. That wasn't the answer he had been looking for. Was she turning him down again? He took a shaky breath as he nervously asked his question. "So does that mean you don't want to get married?"

Gabriella pulled Troy up in front of her and wrapped her arms around his neck. She could see the nervousness in his eyes and took compassion on him, knowing her refusal last year had made an impact on him this time. "I want to marry you, Troy," she said quietly.

She waited until her words registered in his mind before leaning in to kiss him as his grin spread across his face. Troy pulled back slowly, his grin still in place. "I love you, Brie. And no matter what your answer had been tonight, I still would have loved you. You can't get rid of me."

Gabriella smiled. "I don't want to get rid of you. I know what it's like not having you around and I never want to experience that again. I want to marry you and have more children with you someday."

Troy nodded. "I want the same thing." He leaned in and placed another soft kiss against her lips. "I want to start planning our wedding. I don't care how long I have to wait to become your husband. I just want everyone to know that you're taken and I'm not giving you up."

Gabriella giggled. "I want all of that, too."

Over the next few days, Troy and Gabriella discussed a few things about their wedding that they each had in mind, but decided they weren't going to rush it. They would take their time planning. Troy had presented the idea of getting married the following summer, right before his senior year of college. However, Gabriella wasn't too sure about that idea and asked him if they could wait until he was out of college, not wanting him to feel any extra stress or pressure. Troy agreed, not wanting to cause any more arguments and deciding that he would be happy with whatever Gabriella wanted.

**Sorry this chapter isn't very long. I'm not very happy with the ending of it, but wasn't sure how to end it to go with my last chapter. The next chapter is an epilogue. Sad to say, this story is coming to a close...thanks for reading. Leave me a review!**


	12. Epilogue

**Sorry for the long wait. I've been so busy lately and haven't had much time to write, but here's the ending...finally! Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I do not own anything.

Epilogue

_2 years later_

Gabriella looked at herself in the mirror. Today was the big day. She and Troy had decided to wait until Troy was out of college before getting married. It seemed like they had done everything in backwards order, but Gabriella couldn't have been happier with her life. She was getting ready to start teaching her third year at East High, the same high school that she and Troy had attended. Troy was also going to be working there this next school year, teaching P.E. and coaching the basketball team.

Brenley was now two years old and keeping both Troy and Gabriella very busy. Gabriella was afraid that after she was born, Troy would get distracted or stressed and his college classes would take a back burner. But if anything, Troy strived harder to do his best, saying he was doing it for his daughter. She had been a great motivation for him to always perform well because he wanted her to be proud of him in the future.

Troy and Gabriella were also in the process of buying a house. They'd been saving up money for the past couple of years so they could get out of the apartment they'd been living in for two years. They wanted a place to live where Brenley could play outside and have more space to run around. They'd found a house they really liked and had already begun the process of buying it. They were still waiting on the call back to make an appointment to close on the house.

The couple had talked about the prospect of having more children. They didn't want to wait too long because they didn't want there to be a huge age gap between the next child and Brenley, but they wanted to wait a little while and enjoy some time with each other. However, life sometimes throws a curveball and changes up your plans. Gabriella had found out a week ago that she was pregnant once again. With all the last minute details of the wedding, Gabriella hadn't had a chance to tell Troy yet. She was nervous to tell him, but she knew he would be there every step of the way to support her.

Gabriella heard someone come in the door behind her. She turned around and saw it was her best friend and maid of honor, Taylor. She and Taylor had been friends since high school. They even worked together now at the school, Gabriella teaching science, while Taylor taught math down the hall. Taylor was married to another of Gabriella's high school friends, Chad. Chad and Taylor had been high school sweethearts and got married just a few years ago after they finished college. They hung out with Troy and Gabriella often. Taylor had been the most shocked when Gabriella had begun telling her about her relationship with Troy when it first started. Taylor had also been friends with Troy's sister Kelsi and had always seen Troy as Kelsi's immature little brother. But when she saw how happy Gabriella had been, she fully supported the relationship.

"Are you almost ready?" Taylor asked as she stepped further into the room. "We still have nearly an hour before the ceremony, but I think your mom wanted some pictures."

"I've been ready for a long time," the 29-year-old replied as Taylor smiled at her. "Is he here? He hasn't backed out on me has he?" Gabriella asked, nerves beginning to get the best of her. She'd done well up until this morning, knowing this is exactly what she wanted and what she was supposed to do. But there were still a few nerves there that caused her to doubt that Troy still wanted it.

Taylor giggled. "Of course not. That man loves you. You've been together for nearly four years and you have a child together. I think if this wasn't what he wanted, he would have backed out a long time ago."

"But you're sure he's here?" Gabriella asked, still nervous.

"Well…I'm pretty sure," Taylor said hesitantly. "Why wouldn't he be? He was supposed to have been here an hour ago."

Gabriella's eyes grew large. "You mean you haven't seen him?" Gabriella began to panic, taking in large breaths of air in quick gasps. She was hyperventilating.

"Gabi, breath. Slow deep breaths," Taylor said, trying to calm her friend down.

But Gabriella didn't hear her. All she could focus on was that Taylor hadn't seen Troy…which could only mean one thing. Troy hadn't shown up. He wasn't coming. He had finally realized that she wasn't worth all the trouble that she had caused him along the way and the trouble she could easily cause him in the future. He was going to leave her to raise their little girl and the little one growing inside of her. Or even worse, he'd take Brenley and leave her to raise a child that he didn't know about yet.

Gabriella's hyperventilation became worse until her world began to fade to black. Taylor panicked when Gabriella suddenly collapsed. She ran to her side and tried to get her to come to, but wasn't able to rouse her. She ran to the door and hollered at Maria to get Troy. Troy came running into the room and saw Gabriella lying on the floor. He asked everyone to clear the room as he lifted her from the floor and placed her on the couch that was in the corner of the room.

Troy sat with her in the quiet room, alternating rubbing her cheek and her arms, trying to coax her awake. Gabriella finally came to, and looked up to see Troy sitting next to her on the edge of the couch, rubbing her arms.

Troy let out a breath of relief as he finally saw her eyes. "I was so worried," he said.

Gabriella looked around her as she remembered what had happened. She looked back to Troy. "You're here."

Troy nodded, confused. "Of course I'm here. I wouldn't be anywhere else. Taylor told me what happened. I made everyone else step out of the room until I knew you were alright. I didn't want them crowding you. Are you okay? Do you want some water or anything?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No…that's not what I meant. I mean…you're here…at the church."

Troy frowned. "Of course I'm here at the church. Where else would I be?" He looked down at his watch. "We have guests out there waiting for us to start our ceremony in about 30 minutes. Are you sure you're okay?"

Gabriella nodded. "Yeah…I'm okay."

"Do you still want to go through with this?"

Gabriella misunderstood his meaning and her eyes grew large. "You're trying to back out on me, aren't you? This just happened to be the perfect opportunity for you to "postpone" the wedding," she said, using her fingers for air quotes. "But then the postponement will never even happen. We'll just never get married…" her voice trailed off as she sat up and looked away.

Troy bugged his eyes out. "Whoa…wait a minute." He turned her head to face him. "What are you talking about? I'm not trying to back out of anything. I want this more than I've ever wanted anything. I was just asking because if you're not feeling well, I don't want to make you go through with this today. If you need to just rest for a while, I completely understand." He paused for a moment, thinking about her words. "Where is all this doubt coming from? You know I love you, right?"

Gabriella let out a sigh. "Yes," she said quietly.

"Then why are you suddenly doubting me now? In the past several months as we've prepared for this wedding, not once have I heard a doubt come out of your mouth. I've heard nothing but excitement and positive comments. Have I said something to make you doubt that this was what I truly wanted?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No…it's just me. I want this so bad, and I think I just got to the point where I convinced myself that I was the only one who wanted it because why would you want to be with me for the rest of your life? I've done nothing but cause you troubles."

"That's not true," he gently reprimanded. "You've done nothing but bring me completely happiness. I love you Gabriella Montez…soon to be Bolton, as long as we can get down that aisle." Gabriella giggled. "I can't wait to be your husband. I know that things haven't exactly gone according to plan for us, but I wouldn't change a thing."

Gabriella let out a breath of relief. "Good…because I have something I need to tell you before we get ready to get married."

Troy smiled. "What?"

"I'm pregnant."

Troy shook his head, "What?"

"I'm pregnant, Troy. We're going to have another baby." She began to grow nervous once again until she saw a smile slowly make its way onto Troy's face.

"Seriously?" Gabriella nodded. "This is amazing, Brie!" Gabriella giggled out of relief as Troy hugged her and kissed her softly. "When did you find out?" he asked as he drew away from the embrace.

"About a week ago. I wanted to tell you sooner, but with all the last minute details and planning for today, it just didn't happen. Are you upset?"

"Absolutely not!" he said with a broad grin on his face. He looked down at his watch again.

"Brie, we only have 15 minutes until you're supposed to meet me at the end of that aisle. We need to finish getting ready if we're still going to do this."

"We most definitely are. I love you Troy Bolton."

"I love you, Gabriella Montez." He leaned in to kiss her one last time. "That's the last time I'll be able to call you that," he smirked as he stood up, pulling her with him.

Gabriella giggled as she walked him to the door. "Can you send Taylor and my mom in? I know they're probably worried sick, but I also need some help with final touchups." Troy nodded. "I'll meet you at the end of the aisle in 15 minutes."

"I'll be waiting," he grinned as he slipped out the door.

Fifteen minutes later, Gabriella was waiting at the back of the church behind closed doors. She had five girls standing up with her; Taylor was the last to enter and was currently walking down the aisle. Gabriella was next and she couldn't wait to see Troy. She looked over at her father who was standing next to her.

He looked down at her. "Ella, you're the most beautiful bride I've ever seen. I'm so proud of you and who you've become. I'm glad that you've found the man you want to spend the rest of your life with. I know how happy he makes you and that makes me happy."

"Thank you, Daddy. I love you and I'm so glad that you're here to give me away today." She squeezed his arm as the doors opened to reveal her to all the wedding guests. She looked toward the end of the aisle and saw the one man who made her so completely happy. Never in a million years did she think this day would come for them when they first met, but she was so glad that it had. Many people looked down on them for their age difference, but Gabriella just didn't see it.

As she neared the end of the aisle, Gabriella locked eyes with Troy and could see all his love shining in them. She smiled at him as she stopped until her father gave her away. The ceremony was beautiful. Troy and Gabriella never took their eyes off one another, silently communicating how much they loved each other.

Later that evening at the reception, Troy and Gabriella shared their first dance. As they were swaying to the song they'd chosen, Gabriella looked up at Troy and spoke softly to him..

"I love you so much, Troy. You've seriously made me happier than I ever thought possible. You've made all my dreams come true. We're buying a house for our family, I just married the best man in the world, and you've given me children so I could achieve my dream of being a mother." She smiled up at Troy, playing gently with the hairs at the nape of his neck.

"I feel exactly the same way." Troy said. "Are you feeling better?"

"Much better," she replied. "Especially now that we're officially married."

Troy smiled softly at her. "Is that what caused you to pass out?"

"Partially. It was mainly because I hyperventilated…but I hyperventilated because I thought you hadn't shown up at the church. I thought you were going to back out on me and either leave me to raise Brenley alone or take her away from me completely." She paused when she saw Troy's frown. "I know…it's stupid. But we're married now, so it doesn't matter anymore."

"I don't want you to ever doubt me again." Gabriella smiled as Troy leaned in to kiss her softly as they continued to sway to the music. When he pulled back he looked lovingly into her eyes. "So…who else knows about this baby of ours?"

"No one yet. I wanted you to be the first to know."

Troy nodded. "I'm so happy to share in this once again with you. Except this time we'll be in our own house, and we can do this together, just the two of us." He leaned down to kiss Gabriella gain. "So when do we tell everyone?"

"Well I haven't been to the doctor to get it confirmed yet, so I was thinking we could wait a little while until after I've had my appointment, if that's okay with you?"

"Absolutely…let's just get through our honeymoon and when we get back we'll get you to the doctor. Then we can make our big announcement."

Gabriella nodded. "I can't wait to grow old with you. I know that with you by my side, everything will be alright no matter what trials life throws at us or how much good fortune we end up with. And I can't imagine what my life would be like if we had listened to everyone in the beginning who didn't agree with our relationship."

Troy nodded. "I agree, but let's not rush the rest of our lives." Troy smirked. "I'm perfectly content with sitting back and letting life go slowly now that I know I'll have you forever. But I agree with you…no matter what life throws at us, I know we're going to be okay."

**Thank you to everyone who stuck this out and read all the way through. This was just a story I had floating through my head and had to get it out! Leave me a final review and let me know what you thought! Thanks again!**


	13. Author's Note

Author's Note

Hey guys! I've decided to take a break from writing High School Musical stories and am branching out to writing just some generic stories. I've submitted a story on FictionPress if you're interested in reading it. It's called Feels Like Home. I'd love to have your support and hear what you have to say about my story. Check it out! It's under the same author name there on that site. mattnme04

Go to fictionpress dot com/s/3077588/1/feels-like-home

Thanks so much to everyone who has continued to support me as an author! I love you all so much!


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